Blades of Destiny
by PiscesBaby
Summary: Led by The Undertaker, a group of wrestlers reluctantly participate in the Mortal Kombat tournament. Will internal conflict with each other and Raiden cause them to lose sight of the upcoming threat? Slight AU, Slight Femslash. Undertaker/Jade. John/Mickie. Kitana/Liu Kang/Melina.
1. Introduction

**A/N: This story is based loosely off the Mortal Kombat vs. DC Universe and Mortal Kombat 9 storyline. Only 7 wrestlers from WWE/TNA and 7 characters from Mortal Kombat will be focused on, though I will put others in the story. Since Mortal Kombat fans don't need a description, I'll just say who is the Mortal Kombat counterpart of the wrestlers in this story. It isn't decided by their power, but by their role in the story, although I have given some of the wrestlers the same abilities as their Mortal Kombat counterpart. The order in which they appear isn't exactly level of importance, but the 14 characters will have at least 2 chapters in the story. Suffice to say I kill off a wrestler, it doesn't mean I'll kill their counterpart, but I may and vice versa. Enough rambling, here are the main characters:**

**Mark "The Undertaker" Callaway-Has the power to summon lightning, very similar to Raiden's as well as being able to use it in a variety of other ways. Holder of the Blades of Destiny, a collection of swords that can be used to defeat anything or anybody. Since he's the most experienced with his powers, he teaches the 6 other wrestlers control of theirs. **_**MK Counterpart: Raiden**_

**Randy Orton-Out of the 6 wrestlers, he can compete with Mark's abilities the best. He is able to summon fire from his eyes and hands. Though he has yet to fully master it, he can shape shift into a viper-like state and deal a lethal poison to anyone he considers a serious threat. **_**MK Counterpart: Scorpion**_

**John Cena-Has the ability of resistance and super strength. Any weak attack will do no damage while he can sometimes go overboard with his strong attacks. **_**MK Counterpart: Liu Kang**_

**Matt "Evan Bourne" Korklan-Can jump higher than any normal human. If he jumps high enough, his feet will be engulfed in flames and can deal heavy damage. While his fighting skills need improvement, he can hold his own against some of the other supernatural wrestlers. **_**MK Counterpart: Sub-Zero**_

**Melina Perez-Can manipulate the sun's rays with her steel blades to blind an opponent. Her flexibility allows her to stretch her body up to 20 feet at the least. The blades Melina possess are derived from the same material as Kitana's. **_**MK Counterpart: Kitana**_

**Mickie James-Has a similar resistance ability to John's along with a self-healing factor. Should an enemy and Mickie kiss, they would be rendered unconscious at the least and die at the most. She has no offensive powers, but has great fighting ability as well as a staff that is similar to Jade's, through it can't be transformed into razorangs. Though no longer with the WWE, she was contacted by Vince McMahon to assist in light of the upcoming events. **_**MK Counterpart: Jade**_

**Barbie Jean "Kelly Kelly" Blank-Has the ability of hypnotism. She can turn a man, or woman, into her slave if they find her beauty captivating and lose control of their senses, which has happened more times than not. **_**MK Counterpart: Mileena (I know it would make more sense for Mileena to be Melina's counterpart, but it's about importance, not name similarity)**_

* * *

><p>"Evan, get this trash out my face," Mark instructed as he released his grip on Steve Borden's, otherwise known as Sting, neck and threw him on the ground. Evan nodded his head in agreement and then jumped 40 feet in the air. The flames on his feet collided with Sting's torso, leaving him with permanent burn marks he wouldn't be able to recover from. Mark got a closer look at Sting to see if he was dead. Out of nowhere, Sting's eyes opened widely and he laughed in Mark's face. After punching him a few times in the face, Mark felt satisfied that he killed him.<p>

"How do we get rid of the blood, Mark?" Evan asked him. Mark held his hand out as way to instruct him to stand back. He pointed the lightning emanating from his hands towards the sky and had it hit the clouds. The result was rain falling from the sky and washing away all the blood from Sting's body.

Mark and Evan turned around to see Randy coming towards them on a flaming surfboard, obviously created from his hands. He put his hands back down to his sides when he got to the both of them. "Guys, Vince wants to see all of us immediately. He says it's urgent."

"Lead the way, boy," Mark said to him. Once again, Randy created the flaming surfboard which Evan and Mark climbed onto. Since they were in Florida, it would about a half hour for Randy to get them to Connecticut.

Once they reached WWE headquarters in Stamford, Mark and Evan got off Randy's surfboard. They entered the building and proceeded to Vince's office. John, Mickie, Melina, and Kelly were already in there along with 7 other people that Mark, Randy, or Evan had no clue who they were. Evan took a seat next to Melina, Randy sat next to Mickie, leaving her sandwiched between him and John, while Mark just stood up against the door.

"What's the emergency, McMahon?" Mark asked.

"Before I say anything about why I called you here and who these people are, I would like to say something to Mickie," Vince then turned his attention to her, "You are here under special circumstances. By no means are you under contract with me again."

Mickie rolled her eyes, "Shove it, McMahon. Me not seeing your face is one of the bright spots of being in TNA."

Mark gave a half smile as he folded his tattooed arms, "Now tell me, Vince, who the hell are these people?"

The man in all white and blue eye sockets stood out of the group, "I am Raiden. These 6 over here are considered the universe's greatest fighters. As well as our referee, Shang Tsung."

"What makes them better than us?" Kelly asked.

"You're the last person to ask that question," Melina commented and Mickie laughed.

"To answer your question, Barbie," Vince said standing up from his desk, "They engage in a tournament called 'Mortal Kombat'. I've decided to put you 7 in the tournament since you guys are a notch above the rest. Especially you, Mark."

"I'm honored," Mark replied as he placed his hand on his chest, feigning appreciation, "What's in it for us? Besides bragging rights, of course."

"Actually," Raiden said, "You will not participate in the tournament. I am not either. The two of us, along with Shang Tsung and Mr. McMahon will just watch."

"Is this like a tag team thing or is it every person for themselves?" John wondered.

"Every person for themselves," Raiden replied. There were collective groans from each of the wrestlers. Some of them were really good friends and didn't want to have to fight each other.

"Well, introduce us Raiden," Mark commented.

"Actually, I will do the honor," the old man with a long gray hair and beard replied. The wrestlers figured that's who Shang Tsung was. He pointed to a woman in all green, "Loyal General of the Edenian Army, Jade."

"What the hell is an Edenia?" Mickie wondered.

"A realm very similar to that of Earth, any other questions?" Jade replied in a not too nice tone.

"I hope I get to kick her ass first," Mickie whispered to John and he nodded.

Shang Tsung pointed to a woman in blue who looked similar to Jade except she had a slightly lighter skin tone, "Princess of Edenia, Kitana." Kitana flashed her steel blades for the wrestlers to see.

Melina flashed blades of her own, "I've seen better, sweetheart." Kitana didn't respond, but her brown eyes locked onto Melina.

Shang Tsung pointed to a woman in pink who seemingly looked like she could be Kitana's twin, "She has all the strength and power of Kitana. This is Kitana's half-sister, Mileena." Kitana rolled her eyes at Shang Tsung saying Mileena had all her strength and power. All the wrestlers cringed when Mileena removed her facemask to reveal her long, sharp teeth.

"With half the looks obviously," Kelly pointed out. Mickie and Melina nodded in agreement.

"The Lin Kuei Cryomancer Assassin, Sub-Zero!" Shang Tsung introduced a man with a light blue attire and mask. He seemed to breathe out cold air, even though Vince's room was room temperature.

"Hey, I bet I could get his temperature above zero," Evan said to Kelly, who just rolled her eyes.

Mark looked from Evan to Raiden, "He's a hyper one, but a good listener."

"Moving on," Shang Tsung said. He pointed to an assassin who looked similar to Sub-Zero, but he was in black and yellow attire, "The hell-spawn spectre, Scorpion!" Scorpion shot a blast of fire from both his hands and towards the ceiling of Vince's office.

Vince gulped, "I can pay for that."

Randy chuckled, "I've seen and done better than some guy named after a poisonous beetle." Mark sighed and shook his head.

"Last, but not least, the champion of the last Mortal Kombat tournament, Liu Kang!" Shang Tsung announced. Mark noticed a bit of hate in the eyes of Shang Tsung when announcing Liu Kang. That was something he definitely needed to watch carefully.

"Seriously?" John said in disbelief, "Our biggest competition is this Bruce Lee wannabe?" Mickie chuckled a little under her breath.

"Careful Fruity Pebbles, looks could be deceiving," Mark replied nonchalantly. Mickie, Randy, and Evan all laughed loudly at what Mark said. Mark then turned to Shang Tsung and Raiden, "One or both you will explain the rules."

"Whenever I am around, I can call a match," Shang Tsung began before he was cut off

"Similar to a Hardcore title match that you know Mark," Vince interjected.

"Like I couldn't figure that one out," Mark said sarcastically and rolled his eyes. "Continue explaining, I'm getting sleepy."

"If you lose, you're eliminated from the tournament. The loser is decided by what you know as "Last Man Standing rules"," Shang Tsung said. "After you defeat your opponent, you are strongly encouraged to finish them, though you can decline."

"I don't like the way that came out," Mickie spoke up, "What do you mean by 'finish them'?"

"Not those prissy little stuff you guys do," Jade said, "We have the option to kill, if you have the balls to. Sorry sweetheart, but I don't think you do."

"Kill huh?" Mark said with a raised eyebrow, "I can see a few of you being killed. I see even less of you actually doing the killing." He looked at the wrestlers with much skepticism.

"Well isn't this great for our self-esteem!" Randy exclaimed, "Our leader has no faith in us."

"Never said that. I just said you can't kill," Mark said.

"I kinda agree, though. I don't think I could kill," John said, "But I can kick some serious ass. Who gets the first match?"

"Wait!" Liu Kang said, "You know our names, but we don't know yours. At least give us that honor."

When Vince stood out, Mark put his hand out to stop him, "We could introduce ourselves, McMahon. I'm Mark Callaway, or the Undertaker, whichever scares you more."

"John Cena, no stage names," John replied.

"Randy Orton, no stage names either," Randy said.

"Melina Perez, or simply Melina," Melina said.

"Barbie Jean Blank, or Kelly Kelly, or K2," Kelly said. Jade and Kitana rolled their eyes as Kelly was speaking.

"Matt Korklan, or Evan Bourne," Evan said with a smile as he made the peace sign. Mark smiled slightly and his smile didn't go unnoticed by Jade.

"Mickie James, that's all," Mickie said. Kitana looked at Mickie. She felt a vibe that Mickie was just as loyal as Jade, with half the attitude, though Kitana actually liked Jade's sass.

"Now those introductions are out the way, who fights first?" Mark wondered.

"For someone who isn't fighting, you seem really curious to know," John observed.

"Maybe it's because I want some of you dead and out of my face," Mark said in deep voice that scared all the wrestlers and made a shiver go down Jade's spine.

"The first fight," Shang Tsung started, "Will be between Mileena and Barbie Blank. This Mileena if any of you were wondering." He pointed to Mileena so the wrestlers would know who he was talking about.

"Good. Meeting's over, we could leave now," Mark and the other wrestlers and fighters proceeded to leave. Mark, however, was stopped by Jade.

"So, mighty Undertaker, will you have caskets ready for your little friends?" she asked.

Mark smirked and used electricity to lift Jade in the air, "You're lucky I like sass in women. If not, I would have electrocuted your ass by now." He then threw Jade down hard, but she landed on her feet.

"But if you did that, who would have an outfit that match your eyes?" she asked. Mark felt the air leave his lungs as he watched Jade leave Vince's office.

When Mark left, he was stopped by Mickie, "She's right. Your eyes do match her outfit."

Mark rolled his eyes to the ceiling, "Glad to hear that. Come on, you're one of the 6 I actually want to survive this tournament."

As Mickie and Mark walked, Mickie asked him, "Why do you think they made that killing thing?"

"Who knows? Maybe it's some fucked up Darwinism," Mark replied.

"But that Jade chick and her friend Kitana too, they're not from Earth. They're from this Edenia place. It's weird."

Mark turned to face her and cupped her chin between his fingers, "You're thinking too hard, darlin'. Focus on surviving and I'm pretty sure that Raiden guy will provide me with some answers, which I'll gladly give to you. Deal?" Mickie nodded her head.

"The tournament doesn't begin for another week. What are you gonna do to prep us?" Mickie asked.

"I'll figure something out," he answered.


	2. Chapter 1

**Kelly Kelly's POV:**

I should be outside enjoying the Tampa sun. I should be trying to find some guy to fall for my hypnotic charms. I should be finding a dentist for that Mileena chick I'm scheduled to fight in a few days. But nooo, I'm in the fucking hot ass FCW training room. How the fuck does a billion dollar franchise not have air conditioner for their training facility? God I wish that Sub-Zero guy was here right now. Mark has us all in a damn military lineup to prepare us for that stupid tournament. He was also hiding something over a huge sheet.

"Okay ladies, and Randy," Mark said as he paced up and down us, "The tournament is in a few days. Kelly has the first match, but this Shang Tsung guy doesn't give me a good vibe. I fear more of you will have matches soon after."

"Like who?" I asked. That Jade chick doesn't like Mickie. I would love to see them two fight, with Mickie losing of course. Why the hell is she getting special treatment after being gone for a year and I'm just treated like yesterday's trash?

"I'm not sure, Kelly. What I do know is that there's more of them than there is us, so they'll definitely be fighting each other."

"How are we gonna make sure we're fully prepared? I don't know about you, but I'm not dying for Vince," Randy replied. For once, I agreed with him. The devil making a deal with the super devil was not worth dying over.

Mark put two fingers in the air, "Two things that you 6 need to work on: your powers and/or abilities and your fighting skills. I've been around all of you long enough to know who needs what training. The bright side is working on one thing will subliminally help you with the other."

"How does this training work?" Melina asked. Personally, I don't care. I didn't ask to be beautiful and now I have to suffer for it? This is some serious bullshit!

"Well, in her year long absence, Mickie learned how to heal others from their wounds. That's beneficial because instead of using stunt dummies, I'm using real ones. From both WWE and TNA if anybody was wondering," Mark said. Mark put both his hands on the cloth, "Here are the dummies." He removed the cloth and there were 6 "dummies", 3 male and 3 female. It was Mike "The Miz" Mizanin, Eric Bischoff, Angel "Angelina Love" Williams, both of the Garcia, or Bella Twins, and Jeff Hardy. I'm surprised by Mark's choices in "dummies", but I don't really mind hurting any of them.

"So we're clear, I'm telling you who you're practicing on and what you're practicing. Is that clear?" Mark asked and we nodded, "Okay, here we go. Kelly, you're working on your fighting skills with Brianna or Nicole. I can't tell them apart so you actually have a choice on which twin you get to fight." I ignored what other wrestlers got assigned to the "dummies" and what they were supposed to practice. I just went over to the Bella sisters to see which one I wanted to focus on.

While I looked at one twin, the other spit in my face. I already knew that was Nicole since she was the bolder of the two. I back-slapped that bitch as hard as I could and I actually saw little drips of blood falling from her face. Brianna shrieked and attempted to attack me. She grabbed my throat as Stephanie slapped me in my face as payback. Thankfully, Melina stretched her body and grabbed Brianna by the waist and threw her across the room. I didn't thank her since Mark probably assigned her to Brianna.

"You're gonna pay for that cheap shot, bitch!" I yelled and then punched Nicole in the face. She only stumbled a bit, which must have meant there wasn't a lot of power behind it. I kicked her in the gut and then punched her in the face again while she was bent over in pain. This time she felt to the ground and her face hit the chair she was sitting on.

Mark came up behind me and placed a hand on my shoulder. "Nice job, Barbie. There's gonna be different environments for this tournament from what this Raiden guy tells me. Good to know you're using it to your advantage." I smiled and said a little thank you to him. I decided to try and practice my hypnotism since my fighting abilities were improving.

I walked over to Nicole and bent down to her side. I cupped her chin between my thumb and index finger, tilting her head up slightly so I could look in her eyes. Even though I bloodied her lip and caused blood to come out her nose, Nicole still thought I was beautiful. How did I know? When someone falls for me, their eye sockets change to a bright blue color, which hers did. I've gotten to the point where I could actually make them do things instead of just having them stare at me like mindless zombies.

"Look at me," I instructed. Nicole then looked me in the eyes. "Now stand up Nikki." Again, she listened and stood up.

I rolled my eyes when I saw Mark approaching me again, "There's a reason I told you to work on fighting and not powers. I doubt that Mileena chick will fall for you."

"Why is that?" I asked before turning back to Nicole, "Slap yourself on both sides of your face." She actually did and I found it quite enjoyable.

Mark tilted his head down pinching his nose before looking back at me, "Barbie, practice fighting."

"Look, I don't need to. I could do something that John, Matt, Melina, Randy, or Mickie can't do," I said defiantly. It's bad enough I was forced to be in this hot ass training facility and now I'm being told how to use my powers? Hell no!

"What is that exactly?" he asked curiously.

I turned to Nicole, "Punch yourself in the face." She did just that. Instead of telling Mark, I'm gonna show him, "Now jump in the air and land on your head." She did just that. I looked at Mark with a smile that he didn't even slightly return.

"Mickie, get over here!" he shouted. She was working on fighting I presume since she had that purple staff looking thingy. I'll have to admit, she kicked Angelina's ass pretty badly. Both her and Mark knelt down to Nicole, who hadn't moved since she landed on her head. I presume she's dead, but I don't care. I watched as Mark asked her if Nikki was still breathing. Mickie started looking for a pulse and found nothing. What do you know? I killed Nicole Garcia!

I walked up behind Mark who was still kneeling down at Nikki's side, "I could force suicide. Who's to say I can't do that to Mileena?"

Mark stood up at his full height and shook his head at me, "I give up. Do what you want Barbie. See if you could find someone else to train with since you forced your dummy to commit suicide." I watched as Mark walked over to a desk in the back of the training room. He sat down in the chair and it looked like he was sharpening something. When I got a closer look, I realized they were the Blades of Destiny.

I walked over to his desk and sat on the edge of it. I moved my index and middle finger up and down the tattoos on his right arm. He grabbed them and pushed them away while continuing to sharpen his blades. "What the hell do you want? Didn't I tell you to continue fighting?"

Randy was the best with his abilities, behind Mark of course. He knew never to try and use his fire powers against him and probably would advise I don't use my hypnotic powers. Then again, no man has ever resisted me, no matter how powerful. "I understand we have different views on what I should practice, but I'm pretty sure we can come to an agreement.

He stopped sharpening the swords, "What would that be?"

"I continue practicing my powers and you let me use one of the swords," I suggested with a twinkle in my eyes. His sockets starting changing colors and I knew I had him.

"I don't know, they're pretty powerful and it could be dangerous in the wrong hands," he replied. His response guaranteed he was falling for me, but not quite yet. Strong-willed supernaturals like him and Randy required a little "extra" persuasion to get what I wanted.

My hand moved to the bulge in his pants, which scared me a little because I don't think he was even hard yet. I unbuttoned and unzipped the jeans and sprang free his penis. I stroked him slowly and looked straight into his green eyes. "Do you think there's something wrong with my hands?" Mark shook his head no. "Do you want me to continue?" he shook his head yes.

One way or another, I always get my way. It's been like that since my powers first came to me when I was 4 years old. It was due to one of those rare beneficial birth defects my mom had. It gave me special chromosome that made me a part of the sub-species _Homo __Sapie__n__ Supernaturalis_. I hope I didn't give the impression of a dumb blonde, because I'm certainly not. I'm just an opportunist.

As I stroke Mark's dick, I moved off the desk and got on my knees in front of him. It allowed me to use both my hands instead of just one. I looked at Mark's sockets and they were slowly changing to the blue color that I wanted them to. All I had to do was put on the finishing touches. In one swift movement, I took it into my mouth. I licked and sucked all around the tip of it. His large hand gripped my hair tightly, forcing me to deep throat him. Oh yeah, I got him wrapped around my finger. I didn't even have to look up to know that his sockets were the shade of blue I wanted them to be. I bobbed my head and down a few more times before he came in my mouth. Game. Set. Match. Those swords were mine.

I stood up fully while buttoned up his jeans again. My hand reached out for one of the swords, but Mark swiftly pushed it away. My eyes widened with surprise, "What the hell?"

"Barbie, Barbie, Barbie," he said three times while shaking his head, "You don't play checkers with a chess master. Both your fighting and blowjobs need work. Now go!"

I can't believe he just played me for a fool! I was tempted to practice fighting on the first bitch I saw since I was that pissed. That poor unfortunate soul happened to be Mickie. I hated her since she was asked to come back for this stupid tournament. Not to mention Mark treats her like she's queen of the world while I'm just a 2-dollar whore.

Since her back was to me, I turned her around and swiftly backhanded her across her face. She stumbled a bit and her eyes widened. When she opened her mouth to speak, I just punched her in it. Now we had an audience. Randy, John, Melina, and Evan stopped practicing on their "dummies" and looked at me about to hurt Mickie. As I pulled my hands to grab her hair and slam her to the ground, she hits me out of nowhere with a roundhouse kick and i fall backwards into John. She holds her mouth a little longer since there's blood dripping from it and then it goes away. Fuck that self-healing bullshit!

"Kelly, what's wrong?" she asked walking calmly towards me. I didn't respond, just speared her to the ground and started punching her wildly in the face. Knowing she had resistance to attacks like that, I started pounding her head into the concrete ground.

Out of nowhere, Mickie managed to grab a handful of hair and I screamed out in pain. Instead of tilting her head back to get me off of her, she pulls me in for a kiss. I don't what the hell just happened, but I'm too weak to resist. I find myself fading into unconsciousness and slowly making my way to the ground. The last thing I feel is Mickie's grip off my hair before everything just fades to black.

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><p><strong>AN: Sue me, but the whole sub-species of human thing came to me from the X-Men. Their subspecies is Homo Sapiens Superior, though.**


	3. Chapter 2

The tournament begins today with my match against Mileena. We were scheduled to meet at FCW so we could get to it. I was running late because I overslept. That and plus I didn't really make much of an effort to get out of bed. My logic behind it: I had the first match so they couldn't leave me behind. After I showered, ate, brushed my hair, and decided what I was gonna wear for the day, I went to the FCW facility. All the wrestlers were there, plus that Raiden guy was there as well.

"Lateness cannot be tolerated," he said to me.

"Whatev old man," I said, "Can we just go so I could kick that bitch's ass?"

All the wrestlers, including me, look at Mark and Raiden. One of them was our transportation, but we weren't sure who. Out of nowhere, the Raiden guy teleports us to what looks like one of those Chinese dojos you see in the Bruce Lee movies. We're surrounded by an audience and, who Raiden says are the other fighters in the tournament, along with some other people. I see that Sub-Zero guy, Scorpion, Jade, Kitana, and that Liu Kang character. I look around some more and I see the actor Johnny Cage. What the hell is he doing here? This is an actual fight to the death, not one of his stupid action movies.

I look around some more and shriek at the sight of one of the fighters. From the nose up, he looks kinda like Stone Cold Steve Austin. From the nose down to the chin up, he looks like Mileena. I'm gonna assume they're related, just not close because he has the ears of an elf and she, well her ears are blocked by her hair. That, and plus Mileena is Kitana's sister. I'm pretty sure Kitana's mom or dad wouldn't sleep with anyone who looks like that...twice.

Vince and that creepy Shang Tsung walk up to the 8 of us. "Glad to see you made it safely," he says with not a hint of care in his voice. "We will give you more time to prepare against Mileena." I don't need time to prepare. I just wanna get this fight over with. I see they also came with a WWE referee. I assume that's to ease our nerves a bit.

"Are all these people from Earth?" I ask anyone who will answer. I'm not even sure if you could even call them people, especially the Steve Austin-Mileena cross breed.

"I doubt it," Mickie answers, "Jade and Kitana are one of the most normal looking ones and they're not even from Earth." I nod my head in understanding. They did say there were from some Edenia place.

"Some of them are from Earthrealm like Johnny Cage and Liu Kang," Raiden began, "Others are from different realms. Mileena was cloned in Outworld by Shang Tsung." Mileena's a clone? Someone needs to fire that Shang Tsung guy because he only did about 50% of the job right. Raiden continued, "Scorpion was reborn in the Netherrealm, though originally from Earthrealm. There are several others." Great, I guess this is what he means by these are the greatest fighters in the universe. Speak of the devils, it's the Edenian bitches with the Outworld clone.

"Are you ready to cry for your mommy little girl?" Jade asked me. If this bitch only knew what I was capable of.

"How about instead of insulting me, you find her a plastic surgeon?" I say to Jade while pointing to Mileena. Kitana's quiet and so is Mileena. It's Mileena's quietness that kinda scares me though.

"Jade, please," Kitana said to her friend, "We don't have time for this."

"You're right," she replied and then looked at Mileena, "Blondie looks like a tasty meal doesn't she?" Mileena didn't respond, though she gave a very suggestive moan. I will admit, as long as she had that mask on, she was as beautiful as Kitana. Before they turned to walk away, I saw Jade wink at Mark. He didn't show any signs of responding to it, though he was probably having wicked fantasies going through his head.

"That Jade one could be a problem," Mickie said, "Do you know these fights are actually intergender?"

"How could you tell who's male and whose female?" I ask her, "I just look at who looks normal and who makes me wanna puke."

"Kitana, Mileena, and Jade are definitely female," Melina replied, "Females that need to learn what clothing is. Real clothing."

"No complaints on our part," John said and Randy, Mark, and Evan nodded their head in agreement. I swear men could be so stupid sometimes.

"I'm not strictly dickly, but I do agree with Melina," Mickie replied, "I'm surprised a malfunction never happened."

"Maybe because everything stays in place," Melina suggested. Of those three, Kitana wore the most and Mileena wore the least. If I saw Mickie in Mileena's attire, her ass would swallow it whole.

"I'd love to see Mickie in Mileena's clothing," John said, practically the words out of my mouth. We're so wrapped up in conversation that I don't realize we've been standing ever since we got to this dojo. I need to find a seat and fast.

"Guys, can we find a place to seat?" I suggest and they all agree. We find an open space in the audience and we all move to sit there. Melina sits next to Evan, I sit between John and Randy, and Mark pulls Mickie into his lap. I swear, I think those two have a thing going.

"Hey!" John exclaimed at Mark, "Why can't Mickie be on my lap?"

"I don't think she wants to be there, Cena," Evan said and we all agreed. Melina rests her head on his shoulder and now I'm getting a little agitated. Is everyone coupled up but me? It's then that I remember Mickie saying something about intergender matches.

"Mickie, are there really gonna be guy vs. girl matches?" I ask her.

"The match after yours is, I believe. I think it's Sonya Blade vs. Kano," she answered.

"Who's Sonya Blade?" I wonder.

"I don't know, but I saw a list of prepared matches. Like that Shang Tsung guy said, a match could happen whenever he's around," she answered.

"Great, just great," Evan said, "And we thought traveling 300 days a year was hard, eh guys?" we all nodded in agreement with Evan because he's right. Working for the WWE almost looks like heaven compared to fighting these guys. At least there, you know the hideous looking ones are still human. I half-expect Mark to say something about how he's not in the tournament, but he just keeps his mouth shut.

The Bruce Lee look alike Liu Kang comes up to us with Raiden. "Hello," he says to all of us and then looks to me, "You are Barbie Blank. Am I right?"

I nod my head, "Yes, I am she."

"Okay, I would like to tell you about your opponent, Mileena," he starts to say to me. I put my hand up to stop him. I don't wanna hear it.

"Save your voice Liu Kang. It's a waste of time," I said to him.

"You really need to know about Mileena. It's not as black and white as her being Kitana's clone," Raiden pleaded, but still spoke in his normal voice.

Before I could say anything, the bell rang. Shang Tsung appeared at the top of a large building. The sight of him creeped me out a lot. With him were Jade, Mileena, and Kitana. I'm kinda disappointed in Jade and Kitana, I thought they were better than that. Mileena…ehh not so much.

"Welcome to the Mortal Kombat Tournament!" some of the fighters cheer while others stay silent, "Our first match will be Mileena vs. Barbie Blank." Mileena jumps down from off the top of the building and onto the fighting stage. It's not the wrestling ring that I'm used to, but I guess it's the same amount of space.

As I get up to go to the stage, Mark places his hand on my shoulder, "Do your best K2. Be wary of those fangs, they look deadly." I actually thank Mark for his advice and make my way down to the center of the ring. I looked to Shang Tsung but he wasn't there. He then appeared at the ring from what seemed like the depths of hell. His powers seem like that of Randy, but much more sinister.

"The rules are simple: the first fighter to not be able to respond to a ten count loses. The winner will have the option to finish them, which they can or cannot take," this old weirdo explains.

"Ready, FIGHT!" he shouts, while returning to the top of the castle and the match begins. Holy shit! I can't believe I'm actually nervous. I turn around to see Mark and he just stares at me. If he's supposed to be watching over all the wrestlers, why isn't he trying to help me?

I turn back to fight Mileena, who's just pacing back and forth, watching me. I'm not sure what to do, so I just try to give her my best intimidating stare. I lift up my fists as if I'm ready to fight her, but I actually wanna run. The fear leaves my mind for a second and I remember that I'm a former gymnast, which means I have agility. To psych her out, assuming she has psyche, I hop back and forth in place. I could tell she's getting dizzy and the fact that I was moving was annoying her.

She pulled out these two dagger-looking things. she kept looking at me to get in a precise aim at me, "Stay still, you Barbie bitch!" she screams and I obviously ignore. Out of anger, she throws the first dagger, which misses and lands on a spot of the, I guess you could call it a ring, behind me.

Mileena looks more focused for this second one. I'm pretty sure she'll miss again because I'm just that quick. She lets out a loud grunt and throws the second dagger and hits the top of my shoulder, so there's a little cut. It's not a cut you would expect from a small blade, more like one from an alley cat. This tournament is easier than I thought. I started dancing around the ring as a way to taunt Mileena.

"What are you doing, Mileena? Defeat her!" that Shang Tsung guy screams. Umm, hello! Are officials supposed to be impartial like that?

Before I can react, Mileena teleports and kicks me in the back of the head. She grabs her two daggers while I regain my footing. "Wanna dance, Barbie? Let us dance!" she counter taunts at me. Just like a week before to Mickie, I ran at her and speared the hell out of her. I catch a look at all the wrestlers' faces and they're smiling and clapping for me. I don't wanna get too close, so I just give her one punch to the face.

I stand up over her body and look into her eyes. She stared straight up at me and her eye sockets went from that orange color to the blue one when I have them fully hypnotized. I moved to the side of Mileena. "Stand up," I instructed. Mileena stood right up without any hesitation. I don't know what Mark was so worried about, I'm doing just fine without my fighting skills.

"Stay still," I instructed. This is a fight right? I still have to fight her. I tilt her chin between my fingers and punch her to the ground. I tell her to get up again which she does. I kick her in the gut and use my K2 finisher, leaving her face flat on the ground. The referee in the ring begins counting.

As I stand here waiting to be victorious, I realize that I narrowly dodged a bullet. Mark knows what he's talking about and I probably should practice my fighting skills more. Mileena is probably nothing compared to Jade, Kitana, Liu Kang, and all the others. As the referee counts to 8, Mileena head pops up. Her eyes show that she's no longer under my hypnotism, which is weird because Mark is the only person to break free from it. Then again, he was never actually fully under it. Before I could react, she jumps on me and removes her facemask. She then starts taking bites at my neck and I just scream.

I faintly see Mileena pull out her two daggers and plant them into my chest. She jumps off me and I feel myself fall onto the ground. This is so wrong! There's no way someone could break through my power. Something's weird and hopefully she'll spare me so I could probably figure out what. Drifting in and out of consciousness prevents me from hearing the referee's count of 10.

"FINISH HER!" I hear Shang Tsung yell. That was probably the last thing I heard that didn't sound like a blur. If only I had taken Mark's advice before. Things would be so much easier…..


	4. Chapter 3

**Mileena's POV**

I just LOVE the taste of blonde in the morning. After destroying that Barbie girl, I removed her head from the rest of her body and proceeded to eat it. The HSS looked like they wanted to vomit while my sister turned away. It's not the Barbie girl that has my interest, though. It's that female with the black hair in the HSS, Melina. She shares my name, I wonder if she shares my interests. Hmm, I wonder.

Shang Tsung appears in the arena before me. "You must report to your father, Shao Kahn, immediately," he tells me. I nod my head and he takes me from here to Outworld where my father, Quan Chi, Jade, and Kitana are already waiting for me. It has taken a while for Kitana to warm up to me, but she eventually did. Of course, she told Jade to keep an eye on me, but I would never try to do anything to Kitana. Anything that she would suspect anyway.

"So, report on the progress of the tournament," my father requested. He got right down to business. This tournament was how Outworld was gonna merge with Earthrealm. Whether Kitana knew it or not, I was gonna rule as princess and not her.

"Mileena has succeeded in killing one of the new entries of the tournament. She was from a group that Raiden has dubbed the HSS. For reasons I have yet to figure out," Shang Tsung answered.

We all jumped a little when my father pounded his fist on the arm of his throne chair, "WHAT? That damn, meddling Raiden. Please, Shang Tsung, tell me about their best person."

"From what I know, the strongest person in the group is not even in the tournament. The rest of them are, and there were only 6 anyway."

"And Mileena killed one?" my father confirmed, "In matters of that little group, how strong was this person?"

"Her name was Barbie. She was supposedly the weakest one, but was strong nevertheless-

"Kitana, I didn't ask you to speak," my father interrupted. It's safe to say I'm the favorite of our father.

"My apologies, Father," Kitana said.

"Mileena, my child, did this Barbie give you any problems?" he asked me.

"A little problem. But she was dealt with anyway," I replied like it was no big deal. Of course, there was foul play involved. When she got me under her little hypnotism trance, it took Shang Tsung to break me free from it. That little fact, however, I'm keeping to myself.

"Lies! She gave you-

"Kitana, please!" My father said again. Kitana really needs to learn her place. If she doesn't, she won't be happy with her place in the new world my father hopes to create.

"Apologies, my lord. Kitana was just trying to state what she saw," Jade explained, sticking up for her princess. It's loyalty like that that will get you rewarded, or killed.

"If I want anyone to explain, it is to be Mileena," he replies back.

"Thank you, father. She was a little trouble with her mind trick, but my superior Tarkatan blood allowed me to preserve and breakthrough," I answered. I caught eye of both Jade and Kitana. They gave me looks as if they were plotting my death. I'd be lying if I said the feeling wasn't mutual.

"Shang Tsung, tell me of their strongest in the tournament," my father requested of his subordinate sorcerer. I should have more respect for Shang Tsung, since he was my creator after all.

"The HSS call him Randy Orton. His powers seem similar to that of Scorpion, but more powerful," he answered. Quan Chi seemed to pay special attention to that. It's not often a Earthrealmer can match a Netherrealmer in skill.

My father chuckles a little, "Is he the only serious threat?"

"None of them are compared to you, my lord," my creator replies, more phony than honest. Shang Tsung has aspirations for the throne, something he will never get.

"What about to my daughters?" he asked. Awww, he does care.

"I...I need to look more into it," he stutters. I'm pretty sure he was supposed to do all of that before, instead of during the tournament.

"Then do so!" my father shouted at him. Quan Chi seems to chuckle at Shang Tsung's misfortunes. I will admit it amuses me as well. "Mileena, Kitana, Jade, check out these HSS people in the opening rounds of the tournament today." We nod our heads and proceed back to the tournament grounds in Earthrealm.

"How about we really test the resilience of our friends in the HSS?" I suggest. "I'd love to see how well they do against one of the Shokan."

"Very well, Princess," Shang Tsung nods his head at me, "Our next match will be Matt Korklan vs. Kintaro!" Ooohhh! I love the sound of that.

The Matt Korklan boy seemed very eager when he jumped from the stands and onto the arena stage. That's when it began to shake, signaling Kintaro was about to show up. All of the HSS looked like they just seen a ghost, including their two best members. Haven't they seen a 8 and a half foot Shokan before? Wait, of course not! Hahahaha! Kintaro let out a roar and I'll give props to little Matty. He actually stood his ground.

"Ready, FIGHT!" Shang Tsung announced. Time for me to sit back, relax, and enjoy what is probably going to be one of the shortest fights in Mortal Kombat history.

Obviously, Kintaro was thinking the same thing I was, which is why he immediately charged after him. Like it was no problem, little Matty jumped right over his head with little to no problem and landed behind Kintaro. I can't believe a species of the Shokan got upstaged by a little boy. Given Kintaro is from the lower class, but still. I don't think Sheeva or Goro will like that too much.

"Good aerial ability, I don't think our emperor will find that too useful," Shang Tsung says and I nod in agreement. Judging from his body, he's probably not that strong. I doubt even more he'll beat Kintaro.

With anger in his eyes, Kintaro charges back at him, but he just jumps again. This time, he goes higher and actually does a spinning fire kick on Kintaro's head, which causes him to fall to the ground. As if to add insult to injury, little Matty is kicking him while he's down, literally. He kept kicking him in head and actually stomped on it.

"So he can do more than just jump," Kitana observed.

"I don't think so," Quan Chi said, "It seems the fire comes when he jumps a certain amount of feet. He's basically weak on the ground." Weak is a nice way of saying he's a sitting duck I guess. Quan Chi speaks more, "Look, he just jumped again, no fire." He jumped just to stomp on Kintaro's stomach.

Bad move for little Matty. Kintaro grabbed his feet and swung him around and then threw him onto the arena floor. Matty tried to move between Kintaro's legs but he was caught and now hung upside down. He blasted poor little Matty's face with his patented green fire blasts. Me and Jade shared a uncommon laugh between us as the two ladies of the HSS gasped in horror. Kintaro threw the scrawny little boy on the arena ground and there was absolutely no point in the referee counting. He could count to 1,000 if he wanted to. Little Matty was out for the count.

"Raiden overestimated them obviously," Quan Chi said and we all nodded.

Kintaro made a hand gesture as to tell the referee to stop his count. He lifted as to step on and crush little Matty, but something weird happened. Matt froze himself and froze Kintaro as he smashed body in tiny little pieces, or so we thought. Actually, Matt appeared behind him punched him with a frozen fist. It was followed by him jumping in the air and doing the spinning fire kick again, but with much more power. Kintaro hit the ground with a frozen face and burnt body. Well, opposites do attract. In this case, it scored little Matty a victory in Mortal Kombat.

"FINISH HIM!" Shang Tsung announced. Matty shook his head and attempted to go back to his group of friends, but was stopped. "One way or another, they are all gonna perish in Mortal Kombat." Shang Tsung was using his sorcery to create a wall of fire to stop him.

"Shang Tsung, he won fair and square. Just let him go," Kitana had the audacity to request. Our father, more mine than hers, will not take well to this news.

"Princess, these Earthrealmers play the hugest role in preventing the Outworld-Earthrealm merger. Do you really expect me to want to leave them alive?" Shang Tsung questioned.

Shang Tsung's wall of fire bought Kintaro enough time to get up and go straight for little Matty. The one in the HSS they call John Cena charged through the audience and tackled Kintaro straight down. What strength! It's almost…breathtaking. He didn't seem to take any damage from the fire either.

"You want us to stop them?" I asked. I really wanted a up close and personal view of Mr. Cena.

"No, that won't be necessary. We'll get them another time," Shang Tsung assured. Shame I didn't feel any assurance behind it though. We just watched as Matt and John returned to their little group and went back to sitting in the stands. If I'm not mistaking, Vince will be announcing the rest of the matches for the day. It's fine with us, since we're going back to the lair in Outworld.

When we arrived in Outworld, Sheeva and Goro were already there. I wonder how they'll take the news of a Shokan being eliminated from the tournament by someone half his size. "Report on the recent news," my father requested.

"One of the Shokan was eliminated from the tournament by a member of the HSS," Quan Chi reported.

"What?" Sheeva exclaimed, "Who was able to do such a thing?" Sheeva was stomping up and down, causing a little mini-earthquake in the Lair.

"His name is Matt Korklan, but his friends call him Evan Bourne," Kitana replied. Oh wow, she was allowed to talk without being interrupted.

"What can he do?" my father asked.

"He can jump higher than the average human. If he jumps high enough, it turns into fire. It seems he also developed the ability to turn his fists into ice," Quan Chi began, "His fighting skills definitely need improvement."

"What are you saying, Quan Chi?" Even I was confused on what Quan Chi was saying.

"If you put him against a fighter that matches his speed, but with better fighting abilities, he will surely be eliminated from the tournament," Quan Chi explained.

"Hmm, not a bad idea," my father agreed.

"It may also help to move the tournament," Shang Tsung added.

"Move it where?" Quan Chi asked.

"Here, of course," Shang Tsung answered, "Raiden is proof that Earthrealm powers are weakened when they come here. We will certainly win the Mortal Kombat tournament." Hmmm, I guess it's not a bad idea. There may be some underlining flaws in it though. Maybe I should hear more into it.

"Are you sure the same thing will happen to the HSS, Shang Tsung?" Sheeva asked.

"Almost positive," he guaranteed. I don't know what my father's thinking, but he seems skeptical.

"Do whatever you can to convince Raiden and the HSS to move the tournament to Outworld. If this backfires Shang Tsung, I will serve you as food for the Tarkatans of Outworld, including Mileena." Shang Tsung looked over at me and I pulled down my mask, revealing my Tarkatan teeth. The taste of sorcerer probably taste better than that of dumb blonde.

"They train in a facility called FCW in the morning time. We should make our way there tomorrow," Kitana says. HSS, FCW, what do all of these things stand for?

"As you command, Princess," Shang Tsung replies. I hope Kitana enjoys her princess status. If my father gets his way, I'll be the top princess around these parts. And if Jade knows better, she'll know which princess to be loyal to.


	5. Chapter 4

The second day of the tournament would be starting a little later today, and hopefully in a different place. We planned on making a trip to a place called FCW, where the HSS apparently train. As Shang Tsung was preparing to teleport us to Earthrealm, I was approached by Princess Kitana and her loyal companion Jade.

"Is there any reason why you lied to Father?" Kitana asked me.

"Sister, whatever do you mean?" I asked, pretending like I don't. I have to keep myself in father's favor so I can become princess of the new world.

"Don't play dumb princess," Jade had the audacity to say, "We know Shang Tsung helped you win."

"Oh really?" I said and they both nodded, "Well it's your words against mine. Whose father gonna believe? A fallen Edenian princess and her loyal guardian or his _real_ daughter?" I didn't given neither one of them a chance to reply before walking away. I just set out the match, now all I need is fuel to make it a fire.

As I walked away, Shang Tsung approached me, "It is time to go to Earthrealm, Princess." He gathered me, Kitana, Jade, Goro, Sheeva, and Baraka as we go to Earthrealm. The place we land is very sunny, almost blinding. Jade and Kitana smile, probably because they feel like this is Edenia. Good thing we teleport right in front of the FCW facility. I don't think I could take much of this heat.

We walk inside and see the leader of the HSS arguing with Raiden. I really don't wanna be in this place much longer, so I interrupt. "Trouble in paradise?" I ask.

His name was Mark, right? Anyway, he turned to look at me and the other Outworlders, "What the hell are you all doing here?"

"Probably lost direction on their way to the Disney World freak show. It's a couple miles north if ya wondering," Melina said. Hmm...she's a bitch. I like her.

"You dare speak to us like that, Earthrealmer?" Sheeva said.

Melina looked like she was ready to attack, but Mark stopped her, "Be easy Melina. What the hell do you want Shang Tsung?" By now, the other 4 members of the HSS came up. So did Raiden and a couple of other fighters in the tournament.

"I have a proposition for you," the sorcerer says.

"Hurry it up. I have to continue training these 5 dummies with the other 5 dummies over there," he replied.

"Not one for waiting, are you?" I teased, "Well then, how would you like to move the tournament to Outworld?"

"Outworld?" he repeated, "This gives you guys the advantage. Why would I do that?"

"The better question, Mark, is it okay if I call you that?" he nodded his head, "Is why do you care? You're not in the tournament and you and Raiden obviously don't see eye to eye. This would be better for you."

"How so? You killed the only person from the HSS that I wanted dead anyway," when Mark said HSS, he rolled his eyes at Raiden. Maybe a little more than trouble in paradise is going on.

"You get to meet my father, the mighty emperor Shao Kahn!" I expressed merrily.

"If he looks anything like you, I'll think I'll pass," Melina says and my sister starts laughing.

"Then again, if he wears a facemask like you do, I won't care," Mark replies before looking over at Raiden, "Thunder God, what do you think?"

"Oh please, this is your training facility. We follow your rules, so you should make the decision," Raiden says with an unusual smugness. I think I like this side of Raiden. Almost makes me regret wanting to take his soul when I rule the new world alongside my father.

Mark tilted his neck to the side and stalked towards Raiden, "Mileena's right, I don't care where this tournament is held. On the other hand, I don't need supernatural magic to beat the immortal out of you. I'll repeat it again: Thunder God, make a decision.

"Fine, have it your way, I will choose," Raiden conceded. "It would be best if the tournament stayed here in Earthrealm."

Mark turned to Shang Tsung, "You hear that sorcerer? It's staying here. How about you go back to Outworld and fix the genetic clone over there?" he pointed his hand in my direction and I growled at him, "Touch me and I'll fix your face up real nicely."

I removed my mask. "But there's nothing wrong with my face," I said as intertwined my hand with his and started rubbing my fingers up and down his tattoos.

He pushed me away, "I beg to differ. So, sorcerer, any other options?"

"We tried the easy way. I guess we're gonna have to do this the hard way." He opened up a portal letting out all the Shokans and Tarkatans. We definitely had them outnumbered and there was nothing they could except give in. "So, we move the tournament, right?"

"Never! Shao Kahn will never get his way," Raiden stated emphatically.

"Besides, why can't he come to Earth? Is there some magic portal blocking him-" Mark looked over my shoulder and at Kitana. He saw the sadness in her eyes and sighed. "Fine, Shang Tsung, but what do we get out of it? What do we get out of doing this tournament in your backyard."

"No! We mustn't- Mark cut Raiden off. A human silence a god? I thought I'd never see the day, even though I'm technically only a couple months old.

"What the hell is in it for us?" Mark asked again.

"Shao Kahn will never try to conquer Earthrealm again, suffice to say an Earthrealmer wins," Kitana answered for the sorcerer. I'm pretty sure Shang Tsung is relieved that Kitana made that rule. That way, she gets the blame should an Earthrealmer win.

"This doesn't benefit us," that John guy said. "We didn't even know what a Shao Kahn was before we got mixed with you all." Mark looked over at him and nodded.

"You were gonna find out soon enough. Did you really think Raiden's warriors were enough to stop us?" I suggested.

"The more I look at you, the less ugly you are without the mask," John had the nerve to say to me.

"Enough!" Baraka shouted, "Shokans, Tarkatans, attack!"

Mark just shook his head. How can he not be scared of the deadliest species in all of Outworld? I'll make him pay for that! "Melina, please." She pulled out steel blades similar to my sister's and we covered our eyes from the sun. They don't have anything like this in Outworld.

"We'll do your tournament move, sorcerer-

"No, you can't-

"Raiden, interrupt me one more time and I'll hurt you, so help me Elder Gods," he was mocking Raiden. Either he's dumber than he looks or more powerful than Raiden. Hmm, I need that kind of power. "Couple of things, you have to transport us here every day so we could train, sorcerer."

"Simple, is that all?" he said. I kinda hope so. He looks more powerful than my own father. I can't believe I just thought such an idiotic thing. Must be my Edenian blood rearing its ugly head.

"No, I wanna formerly meet this Shao Kahn. I bet the Edenian general impresses me more." He was referring to Jade. I turned to look at her and she blushed. "Last, I pick the first match in Outworld. You know, to christen it."

"What would your boss think about that?" I asked.

"You mean Vince? His head is too far up your creator's ass to care," he answered to me. I actually felt a laugh coming on, and it wasn't an evil one either. "Sorcerer, do we have a deal?"

"Fine, I agree to your terms. What is the first match?" he asked. Even I wondered that. I don't think he even knows every person in the tournament.

"Melina vs. Mileena," he replies. "By the way, she's one of our more ruthless members. She won't hesitate to kill." The way she looked at me showed that. Maybe it was just a bluff. That Barbie girl had a huge one, but she was nothing but lunch for me.

"Fine, later today, it will be Mileena vs. Melina. I hope she'll be ready," Shang Tsung said as he we all proceeded to step back into the portal to Outworld.

Kitana was still standing there, looking at the Earthrealmer Liu Kang. "Sister, we must leave. We have a lot to prepare for." She turned back to me hastily and grabbed my hand as she dragged me back into the portal with her. She was blushing. My sister, in love with an Earthrealmer? This will definitely get me in father's favor.

"So, they agreed?" my father asked.

"Yes, with a few minor clauses, but they agreed nevertheless," Shang Tsung answered. Something tells me he won't get away with that answer as easily as he thinks he will.

"And they are?" Quan Chi asked. Just like I thought.

"They want to be transported back to Earthrealm every day to train. The HSS group wants to meet you." Really? He's not gonna say the last one?

"That is not all, Emperor," my sister says. So, she took what I said to heart? Good, for me at least. "He requested to make the first match, which Shang Tsung agreed to. It will be your daughter Mileena against the HSS's Melina." If looks could kill, Kitana would have been killed by me, then revived by my creator, just to be killed again.

"My apologies, Emperor," Shang Tsung said with a bow, "However, Princess Kitana has taken interest in an Earthrealm boy."

"Why should I care? I'm not even her father." And the truth is out. It doesn't feel as rewarding as I thought it would.

"What?" she exclaimed, "But-

"Your father was a weak Edenian ruler. I killed him and took Sindel for a bride. You probably would be better off in Earthrealm because I have no more use for you. Send her to the arena." The Tarkatans grabbed my sister and took her off. I looked at Jade to see if she would do anything, but she did absolutely nothing, even though she probably wanted to. I guess we know where her true loyalties are. "Kitana's death will be the celebration of your victory, Mileena. Let us go to the arena. I want to be acquainted with this mighty fighters of the HSS."

My father stepped off his throne. "Yes, Father. It is time for Outworld to regain its title as Mortal Kombat champion."

I felt like what the Earthrealmers call a shark. There was no blood yet, but there would be. I stood across from Melina, just waiting for that subordinate sorcerer to begin the fight. "Ready, FIGHT!"

I didn't waste any time. I just went straight for Melina. When I tried to jump on her, she bent her body in some weird way I've never seen. good thing I landed on my feet or that would have been a problem. I pulled out my sais and threw them at her neck. She was only able to block one and the other landed right in a nice spot. Since she was momentarily stunned, I jumped on her and pulled my sai out. I then planted it in her stomach while I ripped at the exposed flesh in her neck.

"Very nice, Mileena," my father said.

"Come on, Earthrealm Melina," Kitana shouted. She was pretty mouthy for someone who was tied by the arms to two pillars and would be executed as soon as I kill this Earthrealmer.

She used her head to hit me in mine and I fell back a little bit. She pulled out two steel fans and threw them in the air. Like in Earthrealm, they blinded me. I refuse to lose! Not with so much riding on this victory. Without seeing clearly, I threw my sai at her again and if I could see properly I would know that she deflected it back to me. With her feet no less. It landed on my neck. I screamed loudly in pain.

"Come on, Mileena!" my father shouted. I refuse to disappoint him. I'm starting to feel strange. I don't why, but I do.

Next thing I know, I go berserk. I grabbed Melina and throw her to the ground. The sai that's in my neck was now in going deep into hers and slashing her face. If she recovers from this, there's a serious problem. I just wildly stabbed the sai in different parts of her body. Melina stretched out her hand to grab it and throws it. Now, I have to rely on just the natural power I have. She uses her legs to grab my waist and flip me off of her and get herself standing.

"That all you got?" she taunted.

Just keep taunting me, Melina. It will be your downfall. I rolled up into a ball and then knocked her off her feet. I teleported in the air and attempted to kick her, but she stretched her body to catch me in the air and throw me down on the ground, hard. My body arched in a weird way and I couldn't even get up.

"Finish….her?" I heard Shang Tsung say shakily. When did the damn count even begin?

I opened my eyes and I saw Melina stand over me, "You weakling. You don't have it in you to kill me!" This would be my last attempt at survival. If she kills the only daughter of the Emperor of Outworld, not even the Elder Gods will protect her.

The last thing I saw was her steel blades, "That's what you think."


	6. Chapter 5

**Evan Bourne's POV:**

This Outworld place does not sit well with me. Mark and the others don't seem to share my sentiments, or they just have some really good poker faces. After Melina killed Mileena, Mark asked for Shao Kahn to hand over Kitana and Jade. I'm not sure if Mark will find use for Kitana, but he seems smitten with Jade. Don't ask him about it though. He'll deny, deny, deny. I'm not even sure what part of Outworld that Shang Tsung guy teleported us to. It looks like a combination between jail and a death chamber. There's a throne chair in here and a bunch of sharp pointy things hanging from the ceilings. I fear if I even try to jump in this place, I'll die in an instant. I shriek a little at the feeling of a large hand on my shoulder. I relax a little when I see it's just John.

"Scared, Evan?" he asks me. Gee, what was his first clue?

"Yeah, just a little John. Doesn't this place creep you out too?" I ask him.

He lifted his fitted cap up a little off his head to rub his forehead. "Just a little. I mean, what is this place?"

"Goro's lair," a voice from behind us says. I turn around to see Mark and Randy walking up to us. "Goro is apparently from a higher ranking of the same species as that Kintaro guy."

"Great, there are more of them?" I hate to sound like a whiner, but fighting 8 foot four-armed freaks isn't exactly what I signed up for.

"To my knowledge, there's only 3 we need to worry about; Goro, Kintaro, and Sheeva, the only female one," Mark tells us.

"Wait, didn't we see them in Earthrealm-err, Earth?" I really need to stop being around that Raiden dude. Unfortunately, the guys noticed my choice of words and got a little laugh out of it. "Guys, I'm being serious."

"Yes, Evan. We saw Goro and Sheeva in Earthrealm." John and Randy broke into another fit of laughter when Mark say that. "Are you done hyenas?" that caused John and Randy to stop talking.

"They're way bigger than that Shao Kahn guy. Why don't they just kill him and then take over for themselves?" John asks. I actually wondered that when I saw that Shao Kahn guy. Kintaro and Goro were much bigger than him. Sheeva was about his height, but still.

"Who knows? Size isn't everything. Besides, that Shao Kahn guy is a sorcerer. Raiden seemed scared as hell of him." Raiden? Scared? I'm glad we have Mark 'cause I don't think I would be able to rely on that Thunder God.

"As long as you have the blades, everything is alright, right?" John asked. This place wasn't really hot, but John was sweating bullets. I think he's even more freaked out than I am.

"If I said no, what would you do?" Mark asked him with a hint of amusement in his voice. Randy seems to be amused by it too. Where do these guys get their sense of humor from?

"High tail my ass back to Earthrealm," he responds. I chuckle a little at the response.

"Speaking of going to Earthrealm, here comes our transportation," Randy points out. We all look to see Shang Tsung coming our way. He's another one that doesn't well with me.

"Gentlemen, sad news," he says to us, "It seems I'll be unable to transport you back and forth between Earthrealm and Outworld anymore." For this to be sad news, he seems to be rather chipper. I feel like this is almost a plot or something.

"Why?" I ask.

"Turns out it violates the rules of Mortal Kombat. Going back and forth between realms like that." I don't if it's true or a load of bull. Whatever the case may be, we're at a severe disadvantage.

"Since when, sorcerer?" Mark asked. I look at his hands and could see the lightning forming in them. This Shang Tsung better give a reasonable answer or he'll be Outworld barbecue.

"Since…I…I uhhh spoke it over with Shao Kahn. He informed me that what I was doing was bad." Started off bad, but I guess he caught himself. From the look in Mark's eyes, he seemed to like the response.

"Did little Evan kick Kintaro's ass that badly, sorcerer? Was the death of your creation too unbelievable?" Mark laughed at the shocked look in Shang Tsung's eyes, "Pathetic, don't ya think?"

"I'm just-

"Not another word," Mark said to him before turning to face me, John, and Randy. "Boys, it seems you've been thrown yet another obstacle in this tournament. If you wanna quit now, just say so." We all shook our heads no. He nodded his head in approval and turned back around to Shang Tsung. "Good, now go run back to your emperor and tell him it's gonna take a lot more than cutting us off from humans to 'finish us'." Shang Tsung scurried away and out of the lair.

"So, how do we train now?" John asks.

"We don't," Mark replied. "Just rely on everything you know for now."

"Should we tell Raiden?" Randy asked.

"He probably already knows, but let's go find him anyway."

Mark was a lot of things, but stupid wasn't one of them. As much as he didn't really care for Raiden, he was our most knowledgeable ally in this situation. Shang Tsung will only tell us what Shao Kahn allows, which isn't much. Then there was that other sorcerer, Quan Chi. For some reason, he seems to be the biggest threat of them all. As far as I know, he's not from Outworld. Essentially, he doesn't need to show loyalty to Shao Kahn. I wonder, is he more powerful than Shao Kahn?

As we leave Goro's lair, Mark comes up next to me. "You know with Barbie dead, you're now the youngest person in our little group."

"Yeah, I kinda figured that out." I tried saying that without being so sarcastic. Knowing Mark like I thought I knew him, there was a point to him stating the obvious.

"You're also the least experienced with your powers, just like Barbie was."

"Are you saying I'm gonna be killed just like she was?" Mark was spooking me, though I don't think that was his original intention.

"If you listen, you'll survive. Tell me Evan, who's the second youngest person in the group?" He asked me. Yeah, there's definitely a point to him stating the obvious.

"Randy is, why?"

"He's the strongest of you guys in the tournament, because he listened to me. If Barbie listened to me, she would be one of the strongest. If you listen, those yin and yang powers you have will be deadly. Do you see where I'm going with this boy?"

"Listen to you and I'll be great. Not listen to you and I'll be killed?" I asked for clarification. That seemed like where Mark was going with this. I sighed when Mark nodded his head in agreement.

"Basically. Speak of the Elder God." I look away from Mark to see Raiden and some of the other kombatants approaching us. I still wonder how the hell Johnny Cage got in this tournament. Everyone knows the moves he does are just special effects. I seen one of his movies on my own and swore never to do it again. Then, I lost a bet to Melina and had to see another one. Yeah, these guys hate me big time.

"Hey, HSS people. What's up?" the overrated actor says to us. From the looks on Mark, Randy, and John's faces, they don't seem too thrilled to see Johnny Cage either.

"Shut up Cage. Raiden, did you hear about this new rule?" Randy questioned. From the tone of his voice, he was all business. It was only a matter time before someone was gonna be roasted alive. And I started off this day wanting to show off my cool new ice powers.

"No, I can't say I have," he replies. But of course he hasn't. When you align yourself with Johnny Cage, there's not much to worry about.

"Well, apparently, we can't go back to Earth. Do you have something to do with this, Thunder God?" Mark asked. If Raiden is behind it, he's gonna pray to the Elder Gods he didn't have immortality from the beating Mark's gonna give him.

"What? We can't go back to Earthrealm? How am I gonna make movies?" Johnny Cage rambled on and on with questions about himself. John walked over to me and then threw me in the air. Where, of course, I hit Johnny with a flying flame kick. Why does it take a knock out to shut this guy up?

"Now that the D-List movie star has shut up, explain," Mark demanded again of Raiden. The dude looked completely speechless. Usually I'm the one give to people the benefit of the doubt, but this does seem a little weird.

"I was never informed of this," Raiden finally says.

"Why not? Have you seen Shang Tsung or Shao Kahn today?" I ask him in a calm voice. I immediately notice Raiden seems less tense.

"I seen Shang Tsung once. All he did was inform me that the next fight would be between Sonya and Mickie James. Nothing was said about not being able to return to Earthrealm. Maybe he just forgot." I nod my head and look at the guys. They don't seem to buy it.

"So, Shang Tsung sees you and your little group of fighters and that's all he says. Wow Raiden, you're more deserving of an Oscar than the unconscious wannabe on the ground," John said while pointing to Johnny Cage. Leave it to John to make a situation funny.

"He's not lying. That's all Shang Tsung said to us. Just take his word for it or you'll regret it," the guy with the arms almost as big as Cena's says. I forgot what his name was, but he certainly was scary.

"Jax, come on, it's not worth it. They're our allies," Sonya says. I know that's her name because she's the only female in the group. Plus, you don't forget a female that hot. She had a tight grip on his arm and he obviously wasn't making an effort or else he wouldn't have been let go.

"Allies? They over here accusing us of betrayal and you still wanna say they're our allies? Let me go, Sonya. I'll finish what Mileena started." Jax pulls his arm away from Sonya's grip and points to Mark. He wants to go into a striking match with Mark? Classic brawn over brains obviously. Mark doesn't seem to care since he went into striking stance.

"Guys, come on. You need to chill." I get in between Jax and Mark and put my arms out for both sides to stop. Out of nowhere, ice comes out of my hands. When I said they need to chill, I didn't mean this. Jax stays frozen, but Mark eventually comes out of it. A mix of shock and anger take over his face.

"Whether you meant to or not, don't ever do something like that again," he said through gritted teeth. I nodded my head like an obedient child and watched as Mark walked up to Jax. In scientific terms, only me and Randy can unfreeze Jax since we're the only ones with fire powers. Time and time again, Mark has found his way around that. With just one punch to Jax's midsection, the whole ice just cracks and falls to pieces.

"I hope you don't expect a thank you," Jax says as he dusts remaining ice off his chest. This Jax guy isn't a people person is he? Then again, neither is our leader.

"Just be happy there was a block of ice between my fist and your face." I guess that's 'thank you' and 'don't mention it' in tough guy talk.

"Guys!" we all turn around to see Mickie, Melina, Kitana and Jade running up to us. "We've been looking everywhere. Where were you?"

"The lair of this guy Goro and then we walked here. What's the rush anyway?" John asked concerned, only for Mickie of course.

"Sub-Zero, he was killed by Scorpion."


	7. Chapter 6

Sub-Zero? Dead? What in the world would possess Scorpion to do that? I'm in a serious state of shock. I just wonder why Scorpion would the one to kill Sub-Zero. To my knowledge, he was aligned with Quan Chi and Sub-Zero was trying to kill Shang Tsung. Wouldn't it benefit Quan Chi for Shang Tsung to be dead?

"What made Scorpion do that? I mean, I saw the evil looks Scorpion was giving Sub-Zero when we were in Greenwich, but I didn't really think anything of it," Randy stated. Now that I think about it, I did too. I wonder what the issue between them was.

"From what we know, Sub-Zero killed Scorpion's clan," Mickie said. Wow, damn.

"Including his wife and infant son," Melina added. Dammit, I hate to believe Sub-Zero was capable of something so evil, but I guess it's a good justification for Scorpion's actions.

"Can someone please explain why we should give a damn?" It was little things like that that made me not like Randy. He only seemed to care about himself and not others. Maybe not directly, but Sub-Zero's death does affect us. So did Barbie's. And Mileena's too if you wanna go there.

"Randy, do you not see the big picture?" I ask him. He darts his eyes at me and my mind goes blank in fear. Randy gives me the creeps and since his fire powers are stronger than mine, I don't go against him. Usually.

"What is the big picture, Evan?" he asks while stalking towards me. I take a few steps back and he takes a few steps forward toward me.

I sigh in relief when Mark sticks his arm out to block Randy. "Don't even think about it, boy. He's right; you don't see the big picture." Thank you! Finally someone agrees with me.

"What is the big picture over him being-

"Randy, who is Scorpion aligned with?" Mark asked.

"Quan Chi." He answered like it was the stupidest question in the world.

"Who is Quan Chi aligned with?"

"Shang Tsung and Shao Kahn, but he's not loyal to them," Randy said with a lot of disgust in his voice.

"Doesn't matter. He's aligned himself with them for the moment and Sub-Zero was assigned to kill him. Also, he killed Scorpion's family. You don't think that Scorpion would just let him run around this tournament scot-free?"

"I still don't see-

"It involves you, boy, because Sub-Zero was an enemy of Quan Chi's. That made him an temporary enemy of Shao Kahn. Essentially, since we're both, your dumbass could be killed next." That still doesn't seem to get through to him. I fear he will suffer the same fate as Kelly.

"I doubt it. You said yourself that I'm the strongest person of group in this tournament. That's all I need and I'll win. Now, if you'll excuse me, I have to prepare for whatever idiot that thinks they could beat me." Randy just walks away. He doesn't even know his way around Outworld. I just hope he doesn't align himself with Shao Kahn to spite Mark. If he does, it's practically guaranteed he'll suffer the same fate as Kelly.

"Randy-

I feel John place his hand on my shoulder and I turn to look at him. "Don't Evan. He just needs time to cool off." I hope John's right. We can't afford to lose Randy or anyone else in this tournament.

Mark sighed, "John's right. We'll deal with our problems another time. Let's go back to the lair. Unfortunately, it's the only place I actually know well in this realm." Great, we have to go back to that creepy place.

As me, John, Kitana, Jade, Mickie, Melina, and Mark walked back to Goro's lair, I saw something, rather someone, familiar. I didn't wan to break away from the group, but the face I thought I seen seemed like that of an ally. I'm pretty sure the guys will be okay with it. "Uhhh, guys?" They all turn around to look at me. "I think I see someone I know. You mind if I catch up with you guys later?"

"Evan-

"I know it's dangerous Mark. I promise I'll be okay. You could trust me." I hoped Mark believed I was strong enough to go off on my own. I mean, I beat Kintaro!

"Fine, but run back to Goro's lair as quickly as possible if you see something wrong." With that, the rest of the guys walked back to Goro's lair while I approached the mysterious figure.

The closer I got, the more familiar the person became to me. It looked like Sub-Zero, but he was supposed to be dead. Maybe I should turn back. It could be just an illusion to lead me into a trap. Having an internal conflict made me unaware of my surroundings and I bumped into something cold and fell to the ground. "I'm sorry. Let me help you up." Now I know this isn't an illusion. This was really Sub-Zero offering his hand to help me stand up.

"Thanks man. Sub-Zero, I heard you were killed by Scorpion," I say as I take his hand and stand up on my two feet.

"I'm not the Sub-Zero you think I am." I look at him with a lot of confusion. What the hell is he talking about? "I am Kuai Liang. You are referring to my older brother Bi-Han that was killed."

"So wait, there are two Sub-Zeros?" I ask in complete confusion.

"Technically, yes. We are both Lin Kuei Cryomancers. I'm here to find Scorpion, my brother's killer."

"Well, he's aligned with the bad guys. They're not gonna make your job easy," I warn him.

"I understand that. Were you a friend of my brother's?" he asks me.

"I spoke to him a few times, but we weren't really friends. Allies or acquaintances may be a better term."

He nods his head in understanding. "Will I be able to find Scorpion in this place?"

"I'm pretty sure not. he resides in the Netherrealm, I think it was called. Are you sure you wanna find him alone? Do you want me to help?" I may not have been friends with the original Sub-Zero, but from just one conversation, I think the younger one is a lot nicer. I want to help him in any way I can.

"Your offer is most appreciated, but I must decline it." I nod my head in understanding and say goodbye to Kuai Liang. I guess I should call him Sub-Zero though.

As I walk back to Goro's lair, I run into Randy. I'm cautious as I approach him and he notices that. "Don't worry Evan. I'm not gonna hurt you." The calmness in his voice made me relax and I walked over to him. I had no idea what he was looking at since there seemed to be nothing but trees with faces and people being hung from their branches. This Outworld place is really creepy.

"I just spoke with the younger Sub-Zero. His name is Kuai Liang and he's looking for Scorpion to avenge his brother's death." I don't know why I'm telling Randy all of this, but he's there so I might as well talk to him.

"Easier said than done." He reached into his pocket and pulled out a carton of cigarettes. There's nothing clean about this place anyway, so what the hell.

"Where did you find the time to get some smokes?" I asked him.

"Last time we were on Earth," he replies as he takes a drag. I try my best not to inhale second hand and I think I do a pretty good job.

I keep thinking about the younger Sub-Zero. I feel like I should help him, even though he said otherwise. "Randy, should I help Kuai Liang find Scorpion?"

"Don't do something stupid, Evan," he answered as he took another drag of the cigarette.

"How is me wanting to help him stupid? He could be a good ally," I try to reason.

"Doesn't matter. Scorpion and Quan Chi are the most dangerous, not Shao Kahn and Shang Tsung. Therefore, I'm not helping this Sub-Zero guy. If you don't wanna end up like Kelly, heed my warning."

"What if Mark-

"Oh my god, Evan! Not everything he says is gospel. You shouldn't even be listening to him. All he does is sit around while me, you, Melina, John, and Mickie get our asses kicked. He didn't even show any emotion at Kelly's death and actually said she was the one he wanted dead. Is that someone you want giving you advice?"

"But he knows-

"He knows nothing, Evan! He just thinks he does. If I had my power for another 5 years, I would be able to kick his ass with no problem. Listen Evan, do not help Sub-Zero. He's not worth it. Screw his brother-

"How would you feel if someone said that about your brother?" I ask him.

"My brother didn't kill another man's family. As far as I'm concerned, the older Sub-Zero had it coming."

"You know, you could be really heartless sometimes." Doesn't he know that you need your friends to help get through tough situations? The closest thing Randy has to a friend are John and Mickie. Even they keep their distance from him.

"What's your point? I've been doing well in this tournament haven't I?"

"Okay, but I beat an 8 foot Shokan and I'm one of the nicest people here. You can't really go off of that for justification for being an asshole."

"You got lucky. I'm pretty sure that Goro dude would destroy you. Why don't you be a good little Evan and go back inside the lair and get ready for the matches tomorrow." I hate when he makes me feel weak compared to him, but he's right. I do have to get ready for the matches coming up tomorrow. I just leave the egotistical bastard alone and walk back to Goro's lair. I'm glad to see John walking towards me since I don't really want to walk back to that creepy lair on my own. We don't say anything since there's really nothing to talk about. John takes me to where the rest of the group is and this part of the lair doesn't seem so creepy. They have beds, but not enough for everyone. Apparently, everyone paired off. Mark and Jade took one bed, Mickie and John took another, and Kitana and Melina shared a bed. I kinda wanted to get in between Kitana and Melina, but didn't wanna seem like a perv.

"Evan, it's not safe to sleep alone. Come over here." I'm glad Melina became a brief mind reader. I jumped at the opportunity to sleep between those two. For the moment, I would forget about all the problems awaiting me tomorrow.

* * *

><p>"Evan, Evan, Evan," I seem to hear. I'm not sure whose voice it is, but it is a sweet one. I open my eyes to see it's Kitana calling my name. "Evan, we are late. The first match has already started." Reluctantly, I get up out of bed, wash up, and get dressed before going to Shao Kahn's arena for the tournament.<p>

When the 7 of us got to the arena, we noticed that Randy was already there. He was just smoking a cigarette and watching the match. "Well look what the hawk spit out, a viper," John said as he sat down next to Randy and we all followed.

"Cute joke, John boy," Randy replied before taking another drag and blowing it right in John's face.

John was about to do something, but Mickie got in between them. "Can we act like men for just a little while, boys?" they agreed, even though they didn't want to.

I look down and see Shao Kahn sitting in the throne chair and Sub-Zero there as well. Before I could react, I'm teleported from the audience to the center of the arena. "If you defeat Matt Korklan, you'll be almost guaranteed a shot at Scorpion," Shao Kahn said to him. Wait, I have to fight Sub-Zero? When I said I wanted to help Kuai Liang avenge his brother's death, this isn't what I meant. However, I will do what I can. This kinda feels like a WWE match, except I'm the one fixing it so that Sub-Zero could win, not someone with high authority.

"I'm sorry, friend, but I must do this," he says to me.

I nod my head, "I understand completely, Kuai Liang."

"Ready, FIGHT!" Shang Tsung announces and we proceed to fighting. Sub-Zero is a master at ice and I just developed mine. Pretty unfair without me fixing it anyway.

First thing Sub-Zero does is freeze himself, which I don't understand. Why would you attack yourself? I proceed cautiously, thinking he's gonna unfreeze himself sometime soon, but doesn't. I use that unforeseen opportunity to land a hard punch on him and I…..then a felt a hit in the back of my head. Note to self: when Sub-Zero freezes himself, it's so he could freeze you. Funny because I did the same thing against Kintaro a while back. Just as I get up to try and fight back, he does a slide and I fall right back down. Either I really did get lucky against Kintaro or he really wants to find Scorpion. Instead of just trying to stand up, I immediately jump in the air and the flame ignites on my feet. He attempts to freeze my flame with an ice ball, but I instantly melt it and connect with my flame feet. The hit did way more damage than I wanted it to, but Sub-Zero somehow managed to get up. I'm gonna regret it later, but I decide the next hit he gives will be the finishing one. All I have to do is survive the tournament, not win it. Sub-Zero pulls out an ice sword and slices me across the chest. It hurts only a little, but I exaggerate the pain. I fall backwards and wait for the referee to count to ten.

"FINISH HIM!" Shang Tsung shouts after the referee counts to ten. Instead of doing that, Kuai Liang helps me up and pats me on the shoulder. I'm not sure if he knew I faked the pain or not, but he seems grateful to finally be able to fight Scorpion.


	8. Chapter 7

**A/N: There are just some characters, mostly from Mortal Kombat, that won't be in first person point of view. I intended to do this with just Undertaker and Raiden, but it seems I may need to do it with more characters since I don't think I'll be able to capture their voice. I'm not sure how many characters I'll do it with, but it'll be a few.**

**Chapter 7/8: Sub-Zero (Kuai Liang)**

* * *

><p>Sub-Zero looked at Evan's eyes. He wondered if Evan was as hurt as he seemed to be or was he just pretending. Either way, Evan just put Sub-Zero one step closer to finding the murderer of his brother, Scorpion. Sub-Zero looked on as Mickie came down to Evan's side and healed him of all his wounds in his instant. She then took him back to the audience where the rest of the HSS was. If Sub-Zero wasn't so focused on finding Scorpion, he might have asked her how was she able to do that. Sub-Zero turned his attention to Shang Tsung, who wore a bright evil smile on his face. "Where is Scorpion?"<p>

Shang Tsung's smile became even wider and more evil. He had something planned and Sub-Zero was intent on figuring out what that was after he avenged his brother's death. "Scorpion will be available to have you join your brother later. But your Lin Kuei brethren have other things in mind for you, Sub-Zero." Shang Tsung points towards the entrance of the Outworld arena. The gate opens up and Cyrax and Sektor come through, in automated form.

"Tundra, come with us to be automated," Cyrax says to Sub-Zero, using Kuai Liang's real code name.

"No! I must find Bi-Han's killer," Sub-Zero replied with defiance. He didn't care who he had to go through to get to Scorpion, he was going to do it.

"Then you will fight your Lin Kuei brethren," Shang Tsung ordered. Shang Tsung made Mickie appear right next to Sub-Zero. "With Mickie James." Sub-Zero looked down at the small female before him. She had no significance about her at all and he had to team with her against two automated Lin Kuei assassins? Sub-Zero briefly considered just surrendering, but family loyalty quickly removed that thought from his brain.

"Looks can be deceiving. I may surprise you," Mickie says to Sub-Zero. He looks surprised that she knew what he was thinking. He figured telekinesis was her special power.

"Ready, FIGHT!" Shang Tsung announced. Sub-Zero looked at Mickie again and looked at the lack of fear in his facial expression. He wondered if she was really that brave or just a façade to cover up her lack of experience.

"Stand behind me," Sub-Zero instructed her as Sektor and Cyrax launched their missiles. Mickie ignored him, but not in disobedience. She just wanted to show Sub-Zero that he wouldn't have to worry about her. She stood in front of Sub-Zero and took both the missiles. She suffered relatively little to no damage.

"Told you I would surprise you," she said to him. Mickie pulled out her purple staff and grabbed Cyrax with it. She flipped him up and down over his head repeatedly and without mercy.

Sub-Zero decided to go after the stronger Sektor since Mickie had Cyrax under control. Sector charged at Sub-Zero, but he froze himself. Sub-Zero's counterplan worked and Sektor was temporarily frozen. Sub-Zero appeared behind Sektor and attacked him with his ice sword. As Sektor lied on the ground, he launched a missile in the air and it hit Sub-Zero in the face. This gave Sektor the opportunity to teleport and uppercut Sub-Zero into the air. Sektor jumped in the air as well and threw Sub-Zero onto the ground. As he came to the ground, Sub-Zero tripped Sektor with an ice slide and left him vulnerable in the air where he added insult to injury by hurling an ice ball at him to increase his vulnerability. Sub-Zero grabbed Sektor's frozen leg and head-butted him, causing black oil to ooze out of Sektor. Just as Sub-Zero prepared another attack, Sektor launched another missile in his face. This second missile was strong enough to cause Sub-Zero to fall to the ground.

"You will be automated like the rest of us Tundra," Sektor tells Sub-Zero.

"Never! Not until I avenge….my brother's death!" Sub-Zero declared. He charged at Sektor with another head-butt, which caused more oil to come out of Cyrax. Sub-Zero created an ice ball and crushed on Sektor's abdomen. While he was bent over, Sub-Zero punched Sektor into the air and he fell back. Sub-Zero knew his Lin Kuei brother would need to be fixed since he short circuited. Sub-Zero watched as Mickie used her purple staff to lift Cyrax in the air and do a move never seen by Sub-Zero before. She used her staff to elevate herself upwards and wrapped her arm around Cyrax's neck only to cause to crash to the ground. A puddle of black oil spilled out of Cyrax on impact and Mickie caused a short circuit in him as well.

"Finish THEM!" Shang Tsung announced. Though they wanted to take away his humanism, Sub-Zero had no intentions of killing either one of them. The only person he wanted to kill was Scorpion.

Sub-Zero shook his head no at Shang Tsung and walked toward Mickie. "You are an amazing fighter. Would you consider joining the Lin Kuei?"

"Even though I think it would pay more than what I'm doing now, I'll have to decline. Wrestling is my passion, not being an assassin. Hold still, Sub-Zero." Sub-Zero did as he was told and watched as her hands moved over his body and healed all his wounds, just like she did before with Evan. "There, now you could find your brother's killer."

"Thank you," Sub-Zero said with a bow of respect. Sub-Zero watched Shang Tsung as he watched Mickie returned back to the HSS. Sub-Zero figured her amazing healing abilities caught his attention. Shang Tsung's attention went back to Sub-Zero when he noticed the Cryomancer was in his face. "Where is Scorpion?"

Shang Tsung smiled at Sub-Zero, "Turn around."

Scorpion appeared behind him from where seemed to be the pits of hell. "I thought I killed you."

"You have mistaken me for my older brother, who you did kill. Now, I will avenge him. Come demon, FIGHT!"

"Ready, FIGHT!" Though Shang Tsung made the announcement, he was nowhere to be found. Sub-Zero hated not being able to fully focus on killing the man that killed his brother.

Not long after Shang Tsung's announcement did Sub-Zero attempt to charge at Scorpion. Scorpion stopped the momentum by pulling out his spear. He pulled a vulnerable Sub-Zero in and landed a few punches to his face, finishing with a fiery uppercut that sent Sub-Zero flying upwards. His blood spilled out of his mouth before he fell to the ground with a loud thud. Scorpion walked over to the limp body and lifted up one of Sub-Zero's arms and stepped on it, cracking some bones. Sub-Zero used his free hand to freeze Scorpion in place and pull himself back up. Scorpion was right where Sub-Zero wanted him, he was frozen in place and had nowhere to run, nowhere to hide. Just as Sub-Zero was about to go after Scorpion, he melted the ice with his hellfire. Scorpion lunges his spear at Sub-Zero again, but he caught it this time and froze the spear. He then went to freeze the upper half of Scorpion's body before using an ice slide that sent Scorpion upwards before he fell to the ground hard. Sub-Zero grabbed both of Scorpion's arms and stepped on his back, cracking it. Sub-Zero froze Scorpion's left arm before he dropped it and stepped on it. The broken ice shards seeped into Scorpion's arm and caused blood to fall out of them. This was never a fight in the Mortal Kombat Tournament to Sub-Zero anyway. He wanted to punish Scorpion and send his demon carcass straight to hell.

"You will know pain demon. Prepare to die," Sub-Zero was preparing to finish Scorpion when a lightning bolt appeared in front of his him, causing him to stop in his tracks. Sub-Zero turned round to see Raiden walking towards him with Liu Kang, Nightwolf, Sonya Blade, Johnny Cage, Jax, and Smoke.

"Sub-Zero, you are making a mistake," Raiden admonished, "Don't do it."

Sub-Zero looked at Raiden like he just lost his mind. "This man murdered my brother, Raiden. How could you just expect me to be okay with that?"

Raiden sighed calmly before turning to Nightwolf for assistance in the situation. "Sub-Zero, that is not the Scorpion you seek." Nightwolf made a beaming light shine down on Scorpion's body and revealed that it was just Shang Tsung in disguise. "It is just the sorcerer, Shang Tsung. Scorpion is in the Netherrealm, serving Quan Chi."

"So, it is Quan Chi who I must seek out?" Sub-Zero questioned. He didn't care how many evil sorcerers he had to go through to get what he wanted, he would go through them all if need be.

"No, Sub-Zero. That's not what Raiden is trying to say to you," Smoke intervened, "He doesn't want to go after Scorpion just yet. There are more pressing matters at hand."

Sub-Zero couldn't believe he was hearing this from a fellow Lin Kuei member. "Smoke, how dare you not say we avenge my brother! Finding Scorpion is my number one priority and I will not rest until I find him!"

"Sub-Zero, WAIT!" Raiden called out, "You have no way of getting to the Netherrealm. If you help me out, I will help you find Scorpion."

Sub-Zero wasn't sure if he should trust Raiden. However, he did say he would help him find Scorpion afterwards. "Fine, I'll help you. However, if this is a trick, so help me Elder Gods."

"I swear on the Elder Gods I'm not deceiving you," Raiden assured, "Let's go, Sub-Zero." Raiden guides Sub-Zero to the exit of the arena, but a green hammer is thrown in their path. It boomerangs back to the person who threw it and Sub-Zero, Raiden, Liu Kang, Sonya Blade, Nightwolf, Johnny Cage, Smoke, and Jax find themselves staring at an angry Shao Kahn.

"Dude, what's your damage?" Johnny Cage asked. Sonya hit him in the abdomen with her elbow, "What was that for? He's the one threw the hammer."

"I came to see Mortal Kombat. As emperor of Outworld, I'm entitled to that!" Shao Kahn demanded.

"Well, as an A-List actor, I'm entitled to-

"QUIET!" They all shouted at him. Sub-Zero had made him angry by walking out of a Mortal Kombat match, though Shang Tsung wasn't going to get up anyway. Last thing they needed was Johnny Cage's obnoxious mouth causing them more trouble.

"So, who's gonna give me what I want?" Shao Kahn asked, stalking closer to the group. "Will it be you, Cryomancer?" Shao Kahn asked, taunting Sub-Zero. "Maybe it'll be you Shaolin Monk," he said to Liu Kang. "How about you Shaman?" he said towards Nightwolf. Shao Kahn feels someone tap his shoulder and he turns around to walk right into a fist of John Cena's.

"We'll handle him. Go on and do what you have to do," Mickie instructed them. She and John prepared for their sneak attack on Shao Kahn.

"Are you sure? He's pretty powerful," Liu Kang asked.

"We'll be fine, just go!" John told them. Right after, he narrowly dodged Shao Kahn rushing at him with full force.

"Come on, they're right," Raiden said.

Raiden guided the group of fighters outside the coliseum and back to Earthrealm. Sub-Zero couldn't help but feel bad for leaving John and Mickie alone to fight the mighty Shao Kahn. Mickie proved to him that looks could be deceiving, but he wasn't sure how well she'd do against the mighty emperor. As they walked around an unknown area of Earthrealm, Smoke stopped Sub-Zero. "Is there something wrong, Kuai Liang?"

Sub-Zero shook his head. "It is nothing, Smoke. I'm just thinking about things. What is this place anyway?"

"New York City, baby!" Johnny Cage exclaimed. His excitement didn't pass on to Smoke or Sub-Zero however. "Come on guys, don't ya know? The Big Apple, The City That Never Sleeps, The Place That Made Johnny Cage?"

Sub-Zero was about to respond when he saw a huge blast behind Johnny Cage. "What was that?" he wondered.

"That's what we're here to find out," Raiden replied.


	9. Chapter 8

"Follow me, but be careful," Raiden instructed Sub-Zero and the others.

Sub-Zero couldn't help but notice the destruction created along the streets of the city. The cars were flipped over, fire hydrants were leaking and water was just coming out of it at free will. Raiden told them all to pause when a group of people starting rushing their way. Raiden teleported the whole group away from the crowd and closer up to where the origin of the destruction was.

"Madison Square Garden…the World's Most Famous Arena. WOW!" Johnny marveled.

"Focus Johnny, we're not here to sightsee," Sonya scolded. As the words came out of Sonya's mouth, a fire blast came shooting right in front of them. "What was that?"

Another fireball appeared at the group's feet before they heard a maniacal laugh. Appearing before them was figure with black hair, black leather jacket, black baseball bat, and face paint. "So these are the world's greatest fighters? I think it could use a stinger! HAHAHAHA!" The person with face paint pointed his bat at Raiden, "Thunder God," he smiled at Raiden's shocked expression, "What? Surprised I know who you are? I know anyone who comes in contact with my best bud 'Taker! I mean, he tried and almost succeeding in killing me and everything, but he's still my bestest friend in the whole wide world!"

"What kind of demon are you?" Sub-Zero asked.

"Me, demon? Of course not! I'm more of a scorpion, just not the one that killed your brother." Sub-Zero charged at the mysterious man, but his baseball bat sent him flying backwards. "Careful Icy, you may join your brother in the Netherrealm. Oops, was good god Raiden keeping that from you?"

Sub-Zero staggered up, "What are you talking about?" he looked over at Raiden with icy eyes before staring back at this psycho of a man.

"Sub-Zero, he's lying to you. He knows nothing of where your brother is!" Raiden stated emphatically.

"Oh, quit lying Thunder God. Kuai Liang, your brother is in the Netherrealm, along with his murderer. The two have never come in contact though. But of course, you're not leaving Earth alive. Terry, I could use a little help here." Next to the man in the black leather jacket appeared a man who had massive arms. He wore a red and yellow bandana and wore a belt that said 'Hulkamania' on it. "Terry, this is the guy who contacted Mark and the rest of the supernaturals in the WWE. Also, he took Mickie from us!"

The man named Terry looked at Raiden and the rest of the group and scoffed under his breath. "So, you're the guy who doesn't know how to mind his business, huh?" Terry got in Raiden's face. "I'm not too big on people getting in my business." Terry lifted Raiden up in the air and threw him against a building. The force behind it was so strong that Raiden went through the building, as well as about another 3.

"And it's a homerun!" the guy with the baseball bat shouted before turning to Sub-Zero. "Sub-Zero, can you trust these people? Do you even know who they are?"

Sub-Zero breathed in and out cold air while staring down the man. "What are you?" Sub-Zero finally asked.

"They call me Sting," he pointed his bat to Terry, "His name is Terry, but he's better known as Hulk Hogan. Back to my question, Sub-Zero, can you trust these people?"

Liu Kang moved over to Sub-Zero's side and whispered in his ear, "Don't trust them Sub-Zero. I see nothing but-

Before Liu Kang could finish, Sting pointed his bat at Liu Kang and blasted him backwards. He fell into the hole of the building created by Raiden and was knocked unconscious by the falling building material that landed on his head. "Sub-Zero, it's your decision. Stay with them, and die, or come with us, and you'll be able to avenge your brother and maybe even find him."

"The Netherrealm are for souls that have committed heinous crimes," Smoke started, "Sub-Zero, I don't believe that you should see your brother. He could have aligned himself with Quan Chi by now."

Sub-Zero listened contently by Smoke's words. He was so consumed by finding Scorpion that he didn't think about the logic of going to the Netherrealm. It was filled with evil souls and even evil natural inhabitants. Yes, he would find Scorpion, but what exactly would happen. Scorpion is already dead and he would just be sent right back to the Netherrealm. His brother…his own flesh and blood was doomed to that hell of a place. Could this Sting and Hulk be trusted? Was he really in that much of a need to see his brother again and avenge his death? Would Bi-Han be the same person he was while in the Lin Kuei, or would he be an evil Wraith just like Scorpion….or worse?

"Don't have all day, Icy!" Sting complained, "It's rather simple actually, life or death?"

The reliability of this Sting character could also come into question. "Just how do you know who and where my brother is?"

"Well, Mark kinda sorta, maybe killed me," Sting explained, "I was sent there, to the Netherrealm. I met a guy named Scorpion, said he was killed by someone named Sub-Zero. I met a guy named Bi-Han, said he was killed by Scorpion when he went under the codename Sub-Zero. Not that hard to put two and two together."

"How are you out here then?" Sonya asked.

"It's pretty simple actually. I made a deal with Quan Chi and he allowed me free access to Earth, the Netherrealm, and Outworld. Only thing I had to do in exchange was to get Terry over here to agree to assist Quan Chi as well. That was also easy since you guys signed a death certificate by allying with Mark, and stealing our Mickie." He made a fake pout as he said her name.

Sub-Zero caught interest at Mickie's name. She was the reason he was able to beat his Lin Kuei brethren. He just couldn't betray her trust like that. He didn't believe that Mickie was 'stolen' like they claim, mainly because she was happy. There was no way he could betray a person that helped him. Sub-Zero knew the decision he had to make. Without warning, Sub-Zero created an ice ball that froze both Sting and Hulk. "Thanks, but no thanks. I don't think I'll align with the forces of evil. I am not my brother."

The others smiled at Sub-Zero's decision and they all went to go help Liu Kang and Raiden so they could return to Outworld. However, Sting broke through the ice. "Such a shame, Kuai Liang. You would have been a very good ally." Sting used his bat to break Hulk out of the ice. "Frozen plus betrayal is not the equation for a happy Terry boys and girls. And what do ya know? Your monk and your god are out cold. The irony of taking a permanent sleep in the City That Never Sleeps is so hilarious." Sting pointed his bat at the group and sent a powerful red beam their way. Sub-Zero blocked it with his ice ball and Johnny Cage blocked it with four green energy blasts.

"And they said selling your soul made you stronger," Johnny Cage joked with an unamused Sub-Zero. The Cryomancer knew that Johnny was being too relaxed and that this was definitely not as strong as they could be.

"Stand your ground, actor," Sub-Zero instructed and Johnny obeyed.

"Wow, your projectiles are better than your movies," Sting taunted before laughing maniacally. Enraged, Johnny sent two energy blasts at Sting, only for both to be blocked by his baseball bat. "Nice try, D-Lister. You almost had me there."

"We're gonna make you regret that decision, Sub-Zero," Hulk assured. Sting pointed his bat at them again and sent another powerful red beam their way. This time, Hulk made his fingers do a fake air guitar, which added to the power of Sting's energy blast. Before it hit them, Raiden came flying towards them and it split the energy blasts in half, which prevented it from hitting any of them. Raiden landed his electric fly attack on Sting and Hulk. They were thrown into the nearby building and were rendered temporarily rendered unconscious. Liu Kang regained composure and was right back to the side of Sub-Zero and the others. He wobbled and stumbled around a little bit, but Sub-Zero helped him stay afloat.

"Oh yeah! Score one for the good guys!" Johnny Cage exclaimed. Sub-Zero gave him an icy glare, which caused the actor to cringe inwardly.

"We must leave Earthrealm, now!" Raiden instructed. Raiden gathered Sub-Zero and the others and they teleported back to Outworld.

"What do we do now?" Jax asked.

"We tell Mark. He has a right to know," Raiden stated calmly.

"But won't he be mad?" Johnny insisted, "I mean, we just went to Earthrealm on our free whim and he's stuck here. Mind you, he just learned a month ago that Earth wasn't the only realm-

"Are you done?" Jax demanded, "Look, I don't care. If he gets mad that we are doing something good, then maybe he's not as good an ally as we think."

"He won't be mad about that, but he'll be mad that we betrayed him," Johnny tried to reason.

"Betrayed? Betrayed?" Jax exclaimed, "Last time I checked, I never agreed to work with them dudes. That shit they do on TV is faker than your acting." Johnny shows brief look on his face of being offended, but it quickly goes away.

"Is this really the best we can do for allies, Tundra?" Smoke whispered in Sub-Zero's ear.

"Yes, there are the only ones who aren't allied with Shao Kahn," Sub-Zero responded.

"Remind me to feed him to my pit-bull, John," they turned around to see Mickie and John walking towards them slowly. Most people couldn't live to say that they faced Shao Kahn. The ones that did definitely were in worse shape than those two. It seemed that they only suffered a few cuts and bruises that would heal overtime.

"Look, no one told ya'll to be stupid enough to fight Shao Kahn. Don't expect thanks from me for being stupid," Jax shot back.

Mickie ignored rolled her brown eyes at Jax and turned to Sub-Zero, "Did you see your brother in the Netherrealm? Is everything alright?"

Sub-Zero shook his head, "There were more pressing matters in Earthrealm. After more thought, I've decided it would be best to not go see my brother."

"Earth?" John shouted. Mickie grabbed his arm in an attempt to calm him down, but he pushed her off. "No, Mickie, don't try and calm me down. We're stuck in this hellhole and you could just go back to Earth on your own free will. How fair is that?"

"Listen, we were doing you guys a favor. She seemed to be the reason behind some of their anger," Sonya stated, pointing at Mickie.

John grabbed Mickie protectively and held her against his body. "Mickie doesn't spite people without being spited first. What favors are you doing us anyway?"

"We shouldn't be fighting," Sub-Zero finally said, "We can't be divided against such forces. Can we get along?" he looked around at everyone and they seemed to remain stoic in their stances. Sub-Zero sighed and decided to try a different method, "Raiden is the only immortal one. If we don't work together, we'll all be killed."

"You know, we were fine before we got mixed up in this bullshit," Mickie spat.

"It must be done," Sub-Zero explained, "So we won't worry about Outworld taking over Earthrealm like they have Edenia."

"How long has Outworld been around? If this Shao Kahn is damn strong, why hasn't he done it by now?" Mickie questioned.

"He is confined by the rules of Mortal Kombat as are we all," Raiden answered, "He cannot attempt an invasion without interference from the Elder Gods."

"And you?" John asked, "We're told we can't go back to Earth and ya'll just go to Earth? Seems like these rules have been broken. Come on, Mickie, let's go to some real allies." John and Mickie pushed through the group and went walking back to Goro's lair where the rest of the HSS was at.

Mickie turned around, "Good luck, Sub-Zero."

Sub-Zero and Smoke watched as Mickie and John walked away. It left them wondering, who was more trustworthy, Mark or Raiden?


	10. Chapter 9

**Melina's POV**

I don't remember signing up to calm down Randy and prevent him from hurting Evan. Yet, that's exactly what I'm doing right now. It's safe to say Randy wasn't too happy with Evan's decision to help Sub-Zero. Apparently, Randy told Evan not to help Sub-Zero and just leave him be.

"Randy, come on, you have to understand," Evan tried to explain.

"Understand what, Evan?" Randy shouted back.

"Randy, stop. He was doing what he thought was right," I try to plea.

"Stay out of this Melina!" he yells at me and I cringed a little, "He should have listened to me! What the hell were you thinking?" I honestly don't see what Randy's so mad about. Evan was doing a good thing and now it backfired on him.

"I was thinking that Sub-Zero should avenge his brother's death and I shouldn't get in the way of that. I'm alive, aren't I?" Evan asked.

"I wish he froze you to death." I gasped at the venom in Randy's voice. I can't believe he just said such a thing, especially to Evan who did nothing deserve it.

"Randy, don't say something like that!" I scolded.

"Melina, what the hell have you done in this tournament? Kill Shao Kahn's daughter? You're as mediocre here as you are in the WWE." I don't know what came over me, but I lifted my hand and smacked him hard in his face. He looked at me with those evil eyes and I stood my ground. I was not scared of Randy, but that's probably because I've never had him angry the way Evan has.

"Melina-

"Don't hit her!" Evan shouted at Randy, getting in front of me. I must say, the move shocked me. "Your anger is with me. Just do it Randy."

Evan closed his eyes and prepared for Randy to attack him. Randy seemed prepared to attack him too. "Arrrggghhh!" Randy held his shoulder and fell to the ground. From where his hand was, I saw blood coming through there and he fell to the ground. I looked up from Randy and saw that it was Kitana who slashed Randy's shoulder with her steel blade.

"Thanks, you really prevented something bad from happening," I say to Kitana in gratitude. I see a look of sadness on her face and I could tell that she probably regrets doing it now. "Kitana, it's okay. Mickie and John should be back soon and she'll heal him back to normal."

"It's kind of her thing," Evan adds in.

"Where is Jade?" she asks us. Now that I think about it, I haven't seen Jade for since we left the arena. While we're on the subject, Mark has been MIA too. Doesn't take a rocket scientist to figure out what's going on there.

"We thought you would know since you too are basically best friends," Evan answered. "Princess, how long have you known Jade?" that…is a really good question.

"Thousands of years." Hold up, did she say thousands of years? Neither Kitana nor Jade looks a day over 25.

"Kitana, you don't-

"Guys!" before I could say what I have to say, Mickie and John run through the door. How we ended up sleeping in the decent section of this rather creepy lair, I may never know.

"Hey Mickie, could you heal Randy? We kinda got into a little scuffle," I asked sheepishly. She gives me a weird a look before looking down at Randy and his still bloody shoulder. "What are you guys wanted to say?"

"You know how Shang Tsung said we couldn't go to Earth anymore because it violated the rules of Mortal Kombat?" John asked and we nodded, "Well, Raiden and his people were just there not too long ago." Say what? We're in this hellhole and they just go back to Earth?

"Who exactly was there?" Randy asked sitting up and still holding his shoulder. Mickie could only heal blood and wounds, so the person could still feel the pain.

"Umm, Sonya, Jax, Cage, Nightwolf, Liu Kang, Sub-Zero and I think his name was Smoke," John answered. So many 'allies', so little time.

"Wasn't Sub-Zero supposed to be in the Netherrealm looking for Scorpion?" Randy asks as him and Evan share a brief moment of agreement. I hope Evan didn't get himself eliminated for no reason.

"Raiden compromised with him. Sub-Zero had to go to Earth with him and then Raiden would take him to the Netherrealm. Sometime while on Earth, Sub-Zero changed his mind." I'm really starting to get the feeling that Evan did waste his time purposely losing the tournament. He could have beat Sub-Zero, but it might've taken some time.

"I doubt Raiden even knows where Scorpion is," Randy says, "Why are we even trusting him?"

"Can I be of any assistance?" We hear a voice say. We turn around to see that it's Quan Chi with Scorpion and someone else. Whoever this someone else is, he seems more evil and sinister than Scorpion.

"Quan Chi, what are you doing here?" Kitana asked. Honestly, there doesn't seem to be anybody in this tournament that has a true vendetta against Quan Chi. At the same time, he is someone that needs to be kept an eye on.

"Answer to those with questions," he replies with a smirk. This dude gives me such a horrible vibe. He exudes negative aura.

"Like what?" I ask.

He points to the mysterious person in the black, "This is the original Sub-Zero, reincarnated as the wraith Noob Saibot." He looks right at me and a chill goes right down my spine. He looks like he'll attack Quan Chi or Scorpion at any moment. Given Scorpion is his murderer, the latter actually makes sense.

"Noob, your brother's been looking for you. Have you seen him?" Evan asks.

"Kuai Liang is not worthy of the Sub-Zero name. We share blood but we are not brothers."

"So, you're telling me that Kuai Liang did all of that for nothing? Do you even know what Shang Tsung put him through so he could avenge you?" I shouted at the ungrateful bastard, "Scorpion, now I see why you killed this asshole. He deserved every bit of it."

"You will learn respect!" Noob shouted at me. right as he was about to attack, a bolt of lightning hit him and Quan Chi. Scorpion looked down at them, but he didn't really seemed to care anyway. From behind them, I see Mark and Jade. There's still some spark coming from Mark's hand after his lightning attack. Scorpion just vanishes leaving Quan Chi and Noob Saibot laying there. I must say, the sparks bring out the darkness of their souls.

"I seen Raiden, he avoided me. Why?" Mark asks us. We all turn to Mickie and John since they have the answer.

"He probably thinks that we spoke to you already," John answered.

"About?"

"Raiden, Sub-Zero, Smoke, and some others just came from Earth. They have yet to give us a reason," Mickie answered. I give credit to Mark. He's trying his best not to be pissed off, but it's written all over his face. He wants to hit something, I could tell.

"I thought it was against the rules," he says surprisingly calmly.

"We thought that too, but Raiden didn't give us an answer. All he said was that they went to prevent Shao Kahn from taking over or something," John explained.

"What exactly are the odds of that happening?" Randy asked. I have to agree. Shao Kahn is supposed to be some almighty sorcerer or whatever. He could have taken over any time he wanted to.

"He did it to Edenia. Liu Kang barely prevented it from happening to Earthrealm," Kitana explained. This is making my head hurt. All of this responsibility, from a birth defect.

"Plus, he's confined to the rules of Mortal Kombat. At least, that's what Raiden told me and Mickie," John added. I nearly shrieked and ran behind Randy after seeing the look on Mark's face. He looked beyond pissed at this moment.

He glared down at Quan Chi's still unconscious corpse and grabbed him up. Using the electric spark from his hands, he punched Quan Chi awake. "Take us to Raiden, Quan Chi."

"What if I don't?" he actually the gall to say. Mark knocked him out with one blow. The only reason why he's conscious is because of Mark. I don't think anything other than okay would be coming out of my mouth at this moment.

"Since we need you, I can't kill you, so I'll torture you. Melina, scream." I do as he tells me and scream my lungs out. Somehow, the others have grown somewhat of immunity so they're unaffected. Can't say the same for Quan Chi, Kitana, Jade, and Noob, if he's conscious.

"Okay, I'll do it," Quan Chi finally says. Since Mark doesn't give the signal I just continue. Apparently, the signal is Jade hitting him in the stomach with her staff so I just stop. "I will take you to Raiden, just please don't do that again." I didn't know Quan Chi was the please type. I guess it happens when your ear drums are pushed to their limits. He opened a portal behind Mark that I hope would actually lead us too Raiden and not into a trap. Mark throws Quan Chi on the floor and we all walk through the portal and we see Raiden and hi flunkies walking to who knows where.

"Raiden!" I call out. The whole group turns around and a lot of them get defensive. I walk up to all of them with my hands up. "I come in peace. What's going on?"

"What's going on? What's going on?" Jax shouts at me.

"What are you Marvin Gaye now?" John says behind me and I can't help but snicker. This only seems to anger Jax, who looks he'll be a good match for John.

"Got jokes, huh? You won't be laughing when I-

"Jackson, calm down," Raiden calmly said. He better, because John will have no problem hurting him.

"Listen to him Jackson, he'll lead you to the right path," Mark with sarcasm evident in his voice, "Just remember, Raiden is a good god who always follows the rules." Whenever Raiden is around Mark, it seems that emotion takes over logic. Next thing, I know Raiden charges directly at Mark and knocks him to the ground. Of course, Jade was the first person at his side. Mickie was next, so I may need to have a little talk with her about that. Mark gets right back up with not a hint of anger in his features. Raiden doesn't back down though, he's ready for a fight.

"You were the cause of everything bad that happened to us on Earthrealm," Raiden says. Who told your dumbass to go in the first place? Isn't it against the rules?

"Remind me to care, will ya Jade?" Mark says before turning to Raiden and clocking him right in the jaw. While Raiden is on the ground, Mark lifts him up with electro kinesis or something like that and wraps him in I guess an electric blanket. The blanket seems to get tighter and tighter around Raiden's body before it finally squeezes fully on him and electrocutes the hell out of him. How does a supernatural like Mark whip a god's ass? It's one of the many mysteries of life.

"So Raiden, what exactly was your purpose of going to Earth?" Ah yes, little Evvy is the voice of reason. At the same time, he'll kick Jax's ass.

"I felt….I felt something bad was going to happen. I needed to see what it was," he responds weakly. I nudge Mickie to do her little healing thing and she does. Raiden seems to recover his strength and be back to normal.

"So, did anything bad happen?" Mark asks him.

"Yeah, actually something bad did happen and YOU were the cause of it, Mr. Big shot." Jax is really starting to annoy me. Even though my blades are usually used to aim for the sun, I decide to use them for another purpose. With a quick slash, I cut his whole left and right arm off his shoulders. The blood quickly got onto my face, but it wasn't nearly as when I decapitated Mileena. He screams and Sonya immediately rushes to his side.

"Alright, toots, now ya done it!" Johnny Cage wants some too? I've always wanted to show him what real action was.

Before I could, Kitana touches my shoulder. "Melina, there's a time and place for everything. Let it go." I take her advice and close my blades and place them back at my sides. Cage got lucky this time. If I see him in Mortal Kombat, I'm killing him, no matter what the consequence is.

From the bedlam, Sub-Zero and Smoke come up to us. "Were you friends with a man named Sting?"

Mark looks at them and folds his arms, "I killed him. Why?"

"He made a deal with Quan Chi. He along with another named Hulk Hogan are working together to do unspeakable horrors probably."

* * *

><p><strong>AN: I have a somewhat clear idea of how I want to end the story, but not who I want to win the Mortal Kombat Tournament. There's a poll on my profile of 9 characters (mixed Mortal Kombat and Wrestling) of who could win the tournament. The characters in the poll either had their own chapter already or will in the future.**


	11. Chapter 10

So, Sting has been resurrected by Quan Chi? And he's aligned himself with Hulk Hogan? Isn't this just fucking amazing! As if these other realm freaks weren't bad enough, we have to deal with people from Earth too!

"Kuai Liang, are you sure? Maybe it was just an illusion," Evan wondered. That doesn't seem out of the ordinary for Quan Chi and Shao Kahn. Yeah, it's probably just Shang Tsung again.

"It is possible that it was Shang Tsung," Smoke agreed.

"At the same time," Mickie started, "Shang Tsung can't duplicate himself. That was definitely Terry with him." Mickie's right, unfortunately.

"I don't think so," John added, "Quan Chi is in business for himself. I can almost guarantee that it was Sting they saw on Earth." That's also true. Quan Chi is like Adam to us, the ultimate opportunist. He'll do any and everything for more power. As a matter of fact, a lot of these guys are probably just a bunch of power hungry freaks.

"I feel like something bad is going to happen, guys," I finally said, "If we don't stay together, these guys will surely be a pain to deal with. I feel like this is too big a problem even for the Blades of Destiny." They all look at me like I've grown a second head, but I know I'm right. When they were created, I'm pretty sure this wasn't included in the 'can defeat any and everything' clause.

"Melina's right," Mark finally said, "This is a huge problem we have on our hands-

"Our hands?" Oh no, why Randy?

"Yes, our hands. Is there a problem Randy?" Oh no, we were just getting along so well with each other.

"Yeah, actually there is. You killed Sting. You have the blades. Why don't you and Jade deal with it? Oh, while you're at it, bring Mickie. You fucked her too, didn't you?" That wasn't supposed to be known to John. We tried, and for the most part, succeeded in keeping it from him. The only person who would have told him was Kelly and she was murdered. He was so happy to see her back and we didn't want to ruin it. I guess we were bad people for keeping it from him too, but what Randy just did was way worse.

"Randy, come on, don't be like that." Even though Randy's been an asshole to him, Evan still tries to talk to Randy. He's a better person than me.

"Don't be like what, Evan? A good friend? All you guys would have died in this Mortal Kombat bullshit before telling John that Mark and Mickie slept with each other. John, are these the people you really wanna have as your allies?"

"Okay look Randy, I know we haven't been really good friends-

"Understatement of the year."

He wants me to maim him. "Anyway, but come on, we have to stick together. If we don't, who knows what will happen."

"Armageddon," we hear Raiden weakly say.

"Excuse me?" I say.

"If we don't stop Shao Kahn, Armageddon will surely happen."

"What about Hulk and Sting? What will happen if we don't stop them?" I ask.

"Maybe even worse." His response sends chills down my spine. These powers were cool when they helped me get stuff off the high shelves at the supermarket or stopped the sun from getting in my face. Now, I would trade them for anything in the world just so I could be a regular human.

"This is so wrong," I complain, "What happened to this being just a tournament to see who the best fighter in the world is?"

"Sorry, wrong game," Cage says. Say what?

"Is it too late to just go back to Earth and pretend like none of this ever happened? We could go back to doing what we do best-Randy looks at me-at least, decently."

"Randy, we're in too deep now. We might as well just continue," John finally spoke up. The feeling of betrayal was evident in his face and hurt was certainly in his voice.

"John, we're talking about this Mortal Kombat tournament, not your feelings for Mickie." Again with being an asshole. Where's Scorpion when you need him to roast this _pendejo_ alive?

"Look, I've tolerated just about as much of your bullshit as I can take. Either you help us or you don't. But don't expect me to cry over your dead corpse." Never would I ever have expected such words to come out of John's mouth. It was venom, then acid, then acid, then venom. I'm pretty sure it was meant for Mark though.

Randy looked around at all of us before looking back at John. "I think I'd rather take my chances on surviving this place than pretend to actually like working with you guys for another second." With that, Randy walked away from us, but not before purposely shoving Mark out of his way. Uncharacteristically, Mark did nothing except put his rub his hand down his face. I think he's tired in some form or another.

"It's been a long day. Should we go rest?" Kitana offers.

"Lead the way, Princess," he responds. We all follow Kitana back to the lair, just leaving Raiden and his warriors standing there. I turn around and see a conflicted Sub-Zero and Smoke. They are so torn on who their allies are. I would tell them to come join us, but we have so many problems. Surprisingly, almost none were actually caused by Randy. He was just the one who brought them all to light.

* * *

><p>I know I should be tired, and I actually am, but I can't sleep. It's probably dangerous to step out this place alone, but that's exactly what I did. This place looked like the purgatory. How in the hell could have Kitana and Jade actually liked this place for thousands of years? Then again, propaganda is a powerful weapon. One I feel like Raiden is using on us. There's no way Sting would have gotten sent to the Netherrealm without some sort of interference. I do place some blame on Mark, but I place more on Raiden. Ironically, these are the two guys we're supposed to rely on the most.<p>

I'm taken out of my thoughts by a loud screeching. Here I am thinking that my screaming was the worst pain anyone can experience. That screeching….that was just horrible. I hear it getting closer and closer and I'm wondering why no one else is awake. It's then that I realize something, the palace doors are locked. I have no way of getting back in there. At least before the loud screeching ceases.

I turn to finally see the source of the obnoxious screeching. I thought it was cat in pain, turns out it was a woman. She looked like Kitana, but older. Her hair would make her a good understudy for Cruella De Vil. I think this is the Sindel I've heard so much about. I heard she sacrificed herself to prevent Shao Kahn from going to Earth. Oh no, if she's here, then…we're really in some deep shit here.

"Hmm…so you are Melina. I've heard much about you," she says to me. I look around to see if there's any way for me to escape. Nothing. "You killed my husband's daughter, you must pay!"

This is Kitana's mother and I have a pretty friendly relationship with her. Maybe I should try pleading first. If that doesn't work, then I did what I had to do. "Sindel, please. Shao Kahn is just using you. He doesn't really love you. Sindel, snap out of it!"

Instead of snapping out of it, Sindel whips her hair around my body and throws me into the air before I land hard on the ground. I see blood coming from my lips and I just lick it off. A little blood never hurt me anyway. She, I think, looks at me with a smug smirk on her face. This will probably be the stupidest thing I've ever done, but I try to tackle Sindel. Only thing that happens is that I feel more ground, no Edenian Queen. I look up and see she's actually levitating over me. I stretched my right arm out and punch her hard in the face, which causes her to fall down. No levitation, no problem. Wait, do I really wanna kill Kitana's mother?

"Sindel, I don't wanna hurt you. Please, I don't wanna make Kitana sad. She's the one who truly loves you, not Shao Kahn." I honestly don't know why I'm still pleading with this crazy bitch. I've only known Kitana for a few weeks, why should I care about how she feels if I sent her mother back to the grave?

"Lies! All you do is lie. Shao Kahn would never betray me for I am his queen." Wow, that mind control is something strong. I can't believe I actually wish Kelly was here now so she could probably try and reverse this or something.

"Sindel, please. He's just using you so he could go to Earth. Why can't you see that?"

"Silence!" She tries to grab me again with her hair, but I catch it this time. I pull her in forcefully and cut it off with my blades. She screams out in pain and I hold the gray and black locks in my hand. I see the hair could still be whipped around, so I use it grab Sindel. I whip her around like she did me before and throw her to the ground. Unfortunately for me, Shao Kahn is right there and he helps back up.

"My queen, let me handle this for you," he says to her. I try again to go for the doors to the palace and they're still sealed shut. I bang on the doors like a wild woman and I even start screaming. I glance over at Shao Kahn and my screaming seems to startle him. I decide to use this to my advantage. I keep banging on the door and screaming like I lost my damn mind. I look over again at Shao Kahn and he doesn't seem fazed by my screaming anymore. He continues stalking towards me with a green hammer in one hand and a spear in hand. Dammit, I lost my voice. I can't scream anymore. I decide to run. I'm not fixing to die in this pathetic excuse for a realm.

For the most part, it seems I have avoided Shao Kahn. I run into a forest with people hanging from the trees and the trees themselves seem to be smiling at me. The sight freaks me out so much that I forget that Shao Kahn is still probably chasing after me. I'm careful not to step near any of the tree branches or vines for fear I may get caught on them. After walking for a while in the weird forest, I make time to take a breather. Man, I can't believe I had gotten so close to Shao Kahn, and alone at that. As I take my final breath to calm my heart down, I see a green spear land next to me. My heart speeds up again as I turn around to see Shao Kahn right in front of me. It's impossible for me to run away anymore. Fighting is probably a stupid thing to do, but I have no other choice.

"Come on, Shao Kahn. I'm not scared of you."

As soon as I say the words, he hits me with his shoulder into one of the trees. Right now, I don't see them as a threat. I see them as leverage. I wrap my legs around the bark of the tree and prepare for his next wave of attacks. It's a good thing I learned about using my powers for defense from Mickie. Shao Kahn throws his spear at me again and I dodge it. The spear is lunged into the tree and I take it out the tree to throw at him. Apparently, my next lesson is projectile training with Kitana and Jade. He laughs at my mistake and comes right at the tree. He swings his hammer and it causes the tree, and subsequently me, to timber over. I scream in pain as my leg is caught between this tree and the ground. As Shao Kahn prepares to kill me, a wave of electricity seems to endlessly go through his body. Finally, it stops and he falls to the ground. It's then that I see Mark, John, and Evan there. I know this is no time for me to be ungrateful, but it took them long enough!

John lifts the tree bark up and I'm able to unwrap myself from around the tree. It seems I'll need Mickie once we get back to the palace. "Melina, what were you thinking being outside alone?" this is a really bad time to reprimand me. I'm not in a good mood.

"What was I thinking? I was thinking that the door was wide open when I stepped outside and that my 'allies' would be there to protect me. What took you guys so damn long anyway?"

"We didn't hear you screaming, but you should have known-

"John, she couldn't have known something like that was gonna happen," Mark finally stops him from scolding me.

"Really? If I did something like that, you'd rip me a new asshole!" Uh oh, what's happening to us?

"John-

"No, don't John me. You know, Randy's right. You guys are worthless allies. Consider me out."

John walks away and Mark just lets it happen. He's so exhausted from all the events taking place, it's almost sad to watch. Evan and I take it upon ourselves to stand by him. He knows he could always count on us.

**A/N: See what I did there with Johnny Cage?**


	12. Chapter 11

**Kitana's POV**

I found it quite hard to ignore all the movement by the guys. I heard Mark tell Jade she had nothing to worry about and they would be back soon, but she still couldn't sleep. Eventually, she woke me up out of bed and now we're trying to figure out what all the movement was about. As I open the palace doors, I am shocked to see my mother fighting Mickie.

"Princess, we should go back inside like Mark said," Jade says to me. I know the real reason behind why she said that. Hearing that Mark and Mickie had an affair affected her more than she would allow showing. She wants Mickie dead and Mark to herself, I think.

I look at Mickie and she does seem to be doing fine against my mother. I know she has been brainwashed by Shao Kahn. I also know that there's nothing I could do about it except watch. Part of me agrees with Jade. Another part of me says that's not the right thing to do. "I don't think we should Jade. She is a very useful ally." Jade looks at me with the same look I've seen Jade give all her enemies. Something I hope she doesn't consider me at the moment.

"Princess, we shouldn't. She's more than capable of handling herself," Jade insists. I look and see my mother just sent Mickie to the ground with an ear-splitting scream. However, she gets right back up.

"Jade, it's not right. I don't care how you feel about her, we should help. Mother is under the spell of either Shao Kahn, Shang Tsung, or Quan Chi. That's too much for an Earthrealmer, especially one as small as her." Jade continues to look at me contemplating what the best course of action is. I'm pretty sure I have an idea of what she wants to do and it doesn't make me happy one bit.

"She did fine against Shao Kahn before. She'll be fine now." With that, Jade walks back inside the palace doors. I'm torn between my best friend and loyal guardian and a stranger with the same loyalty traits as my best friend.

Ultimately, the goodness of my heart gives out and I step in front of Mickie to kick my mother in her stomach. Mickie looks surprised by the action and moves to stand beside me. If it wasn't for their dislike for each other, Mickie and Jade would be a deadly alliance. Mother looks surprised by my actions and charges at me, but Mickie spins her staff and sends my mother flying back.

"Where's the Guardian?" she asks with no sense of attitude. Though, the question itself showed the attitude of how she feels toward Jade.

"She went inside, so she would obey Mark's orders," I say like it's the real reason for Jade's departure.

"Likely story-Mickie sweeps my mother down to the ground with her staff-I don't want Mark, if that's what she's damn upset about." It's almost like she read Jade's mind. That's the exact reason for her anger actually.

"It is the reason. As loyal as she is, Jade does have a ruthless streak." I am starting to wonder if having a conversation at this time is the best idea. My mother is no weakling, so we really should be focusing on her. Out of nowhere, she lets out the most horrid scream I've ever heard. It wouldn't surprise if those demons from the Netherrealm suddenly heard it. Mickie covered her ears from the loud noise.

"How the hell did she get conquered with that scream?" Mickie wondered.

"It was never that powerful. Her powers must have increased under Shao Kahn's sorcery," I explain. Also, she was the barrier that prevented Shao Kahn from entering Earthrealm. We must deal with him quickly before dealing with the Netherrealm-Earthrealm alliance. The screeching soon becomes unbearable and I start to see parts of my skin coming off. Mickie is too distracted by the screeching to try and heal me. Besides, I don't think she'll be able to. I've seen and done several slow and painful deaths, but this is probably the worst of them all. Just when I think my mother's screaming will kill me, it lights up a bit. That's when I realize she's on fire. It seems to have been caused by Randy. I walk up to him and bow my head in thanks.

"I didn't do it for you. She's worse than Melina," was all he replied with.

"Geez, Randy, just take the thank you. It's not like you get them often," Mickie said to him before taking a look at my arm. With one swift movement, she healed my arm.

"Mickie, shut up and just do your little miracle healing thing," he snapped. I don't understand; how were these Earthrealmers able to work with him?

"You mean like the one I did for you? Nice to know you appreciate me."

"I didn't need your help, Mickie. I just need my focus so I could beat Liu Kang tomorrow." My heart skipped a beat as I heard his name. I secretly yearned for him since I saw him in Earthrealm. There's just something about him that I need to know better.

"Good luck, he's really tough," Mickie tells him. I wanna say to him that he has no chance to beat a warrior as great as Liu Kang, but I stay silent instead.

"Yeah, he's definitely a rare kind of person." I tilt my head down after both Randy and Mickie give me a weird look. I guess Earthrealmers are good at telling when a person is in love.

"Awww, the Edenian princess has a crush on an Earthrealm monk," I can't believe Randy was actually teasing me. "Don't worry, my princess. I won't hurt your boyfriend too badly, but I do intend to win."

"You're incapable of beating someone with the spirit of Liu Kang. He can persevere through anything!" I stated emphatically. In the back of my mind, I was wondering if he would defend me in the same way.

"What 'spirit' is that exactly?" he asked.

"Randy, come on-

"No Mickie, I want her to answer this question. What kind of spirit does Liu Kang have?" Just as I was about to open my mouth, Randy fell to the ground and placed a hand on his back, indicating he was in some sort of pain.

"Is this the man you say has spirit, Princess? One who attacks people from behind because he can't fight like a man?" Randy was fuming, I could tell. I never expected that Liu Kang would do something like that. I figured it was probably just Shang Tsung again.

"Randy, stop. It may not be Liu Kang," Mickie suggested. She grabbed his hand, which seemed to calm him down. I could see why Jade is somewhat intimidated by her. She seems to have a way with men.

He sighed and seemed to calm down. "You're probably right. Just to be sure-

Randy sent a fireball towards what could possibly be Shang Tsung posing as Liu Kang. "If he changes back, then it's Shang Tsung. If he doesn't, then Liu Kang isn't as noble as I first thought." We watched as 'Liu Kang' lied on the ground. I was disappointed that it really wasn't Shang Tsung, but in fact Liu Kang. I knew Randy would hurt him. I stepped in front of Randy, wondering if I could have the same effect as Mickie. "Out of my way, Kitana. I'm gonna kill him, and then burn his bloody corpse."

"Randy, that's not what we're here to do!" Mickie shouted.

"We're here to survive Mickie! To survive is to kill. I'm sorry Kitana, but I have to do this." He pushed me to the side gently and prepared to fight Liu Kang. The way he touched me showed me that he had some good in him. I hope that it shines through in this fight.

"Come demon, I'll send you straight to hell!" Liu Kang shouted at him. Mickie stands at my side and I notice Jade is on the other one. Even though they can't stand each other, I feel even more protected with both of them at my side.

Randy shoots a flame from both his hands and instead of aiming it at Liu Kang; he aims it in the air. Liu Kang smirks at the mistake and then uses his trademark Bicycle Kick on Randy, but the fireball Randy launched fell on his torso and he immediately dropped to the ground. It was Randy's turn to smirk as he started to stomp him at certain points on the body. They didn't seem random either. It seemed that he knew these parts of the body were gonna hurt Liu Kang the worst. If he wasn't technically still our ally, I would fear him greatly. I cringed as the last kick was right in his face. Almost immediately, blood spilled out his nose and didn't seem to stop.

"He's so ruthless," I said to Jade. She nodded her head in agreement with me.

"That's why he's so good, and why he's such a pain," Mickie replied. "Randy's one of our best, but he has a problem with following orders. Mainly because of his overconfidence in how good his abilities are."

"How could not be? Oh my, does he stop?" I ask as I watch Randy punch Liu Kang's already bloody nose repeatedly. He head-butted him in the nose and even more blood spills out. How can I have been spilling blood for centuries and this is the time that it affects me so much?

I jump in excitement when I see Liu Kang give Randy a head-butt of his own. He then tried going for his Bicycle Kick again, which was successful this time. I think Randy has awakened a beast, rather dragon, in him that probably shouldn't be let out. He didn't let up on Randy like he would have on any other opponent. Once Randy tries to sit his head up a little bit, Liu Kang makes it fall right back to the ground with a fireball that landed directly in Randy's face.

"You can do it! Defeat him!" I cheer. From what I can tell, Mickie doesn't share in my sentiments. I don't understand why she would want someone as evil as Randy to win this match over a noble person like Liu Kang.

Randy somehow manages to get back up and Liu Kang goes right back on the attack. He hits Randy with a cartwheel to his head, which followed with an uppercut. I could tell the punch had more power than what Mickie was expecting, but she shouldn't put so much faith in her little friend. After the punch came a kick to the head, that should knock Randy out completely. I think I even saw some of Randy's teeth fly out of his mouth.

As soon as I think Liu Kang is gonna win, Randy somehow manage to get back into the fight. Once Liu Kang stepped over his seemingly lifeless body, Randy hit him with a move so swift I barely saw it. Randy seemed to jump in the air while wrapping his arm around Kang's neck and dropping both bodies to the ground. Randy backs up away from him a little bit and Kang manages to get back on all fours. Once he does, Randy knees him on the side of the head, which knocks him out completely.

Out of nowhere, Shang Tsung appears. "FINISH HIM!" Oh no, I can't bear to see Kang be killed.

I close my eyes as I watch Randy set up a large fireball in his hands. This can't be happening. "Randy!" I open my eyes to see John Cena running towards us. He seemed to be coming from the Living Forest. However, he's alone, which makes me worry a little.

"What do you want, Cena?" Randy asks. I sigh in relief when the fire Randy created disappeared.

"Not here, not now. Let's just go," John says.

"Finally seen the light, huh? You realized that aligning yourself with Mark will only get you killed." John nodded his head and Mickie runs to try and stop them. I watch her try and plea before Jade taps my shoulder and I look in the opposite direction. I see Mark, Matt, and Melina all coming our way.

"What's Mickie doing with them?" Melina shouted, "She better not betray us too!" I can almost guarantee that Shang Tsung likes the division that he sees from his evil smirk. It almost makes me sick.

"Let her do it," Mark replied. A smirk appears on Jade's face as she walks to be on Mark's side. Its then that Shang Tsung walks up to us. "What do you want sorcerer?"

"Our next match will be tomorrow," he informs us. "Kitana and Melina will face Mickie James…and Jade."


	13. Chapter 12

"She's out there right now, with those traitors!" Melina was pacing the palace room, misinterpreting what she saw. Both me and Jade know what she was really doing, but neither one of us said a word.

"Don't assume so quickly, Melina. We've seen how badly that turns out," Evan suggested. Of the little group, he seemed to be the peacemaker. With all the tempers, I could see why he would be needed.

"Evan, she's over there with Randy and John, who did everything but say 'screw us'. What do you expect me to think?" Melina shouted back. I must say, she has the biggest temper of them all.

"That I tried to convince them to rethink their decision." The palace doors opened and Mickie was walking through with Liu Kang slumped over her shoulder. When she dropped him to the ground, I thought she was going to heal him. Instead, she stepped over his seemingly lifeless corpse and got in Melina's face. "Is there a problem?"

"You obviously weren't successful," Jade butted in.

"You're right, I wasn't. Shit happens," Mickie replied before turning to Liu Kang, "Tomorrow, if you get in my way Jade, that'll be you."

"I'd like to see you try." Jade wasn't backing down from here. Not that I was expecting anything less. At the same time, they're supposed to be on the same page. While division is better for me and Melina, it may also turn out to be worst.

"Ladies-

"Mickie!" We saw John calling her from the palace doors, "Are you sure? Last chance?" I wonder what he was talking about. Whatever it was, Mickie turned him down.

"Come back tomorrow and try again. Most preferably after the fight," she replies. John nods his head and exits. Mickie goes over to Liu Kang and finally heals him. However, she doesn't do the full job. "Why should I do something for people who think I'd betray them?" She looked at me and Jade before rolling her eyes and exiting the palace doors. More than likely, she was joining John and Randy. I go to Kang's side so his wounds do heal. He can't save Earthrealm anymore through the tournament, but he can still save Earthrealm. In order for that to be possible, he needs to be at full strength.

"I'm so glad you upgraded your taste," I heard Jade say to Mark. All he did was nod his head and walk towards the master bedroom, probably to sleep. It was really early in the morning, but we've been up all night having to fight off my mother, rescue Melina from Shao Kahn, and the impromptu Mortal Kombat match between Randy and Liu Kang. Evan too seems to want to rest and he goes to sleep. I go to Kang's side and kneel to him. A hand of his reaches out to touch my face and I take it in mine.

"What has happened, Kitana?" he asks me. I wish I could answer him, but I can't.

"I don't know. Everything's just falling apart."

"Kitana, promise me something."

"Anything."

"Stay by my side. To the very end." That's a very simple request that he just asked.

"I would be delighted to make that happen." I leaned down and kiss his still slightly bloody lips. I don't care if Mickie didn't complete the healing process; he's still the most gorgeous man I've ever seen.

"I know tomorrow will be hard for you, but try your best." It wasn't until Kang said it that I realized I was fighting Mickie…and Jade. My best friend. My loyal guardian. My opponent. How I wish for otherwise, but I've learned that you don't get what you wish for.

"I will." I lie down next to Liu Kang and put a hand on his chest. I didn't even care that the floor was cold and hard. It felt warm and cozy being in Kang's arms.

"Knock, knock. Are you in there, Phenom?" I heard a voice say. I've never heard this before, so I'm not sure how I should feel.

"Oh no, it's the clown from Earthrealm," I hear Kang say.

"What?"

"He calls himself 'Sting'. Mark killed him, but he was resurrected in the Netherrealm to serve Quan Chi. He's very powerful."

"Phenom, answer the door! If ya don't, I really will make you a Deadman Walking. You don't want that do you?" This man was very persistent. I get up and help Kang up as well. We walk into the palace bedroom to see Mark and Jade are in a deep slumber. I shake them both awake and neither one looks happy.

"Is there something wrong, Princess?" Jade asked me. She immediately got out of the bed and went to my side. "What's the emergency?"

"That clown from Earthrealm. He's here," Kang answered. That caught Mark's attention. He sat up and got out of bed, pushing past all of us and the palace bedroom door. When he opened the door to outside the palace, he saw nothing.

"Liu Kang, were you hallucinating?" he asked him.

"No, he wasn't. I heard him too," I reply for him.

Mark looked back and forth between both of us. "Well, it could you're just imagining things. If the knock was real, then Evan would be awake too. Obviously, he's not."

"Mark, me and Kitana both can't be lying," Kang insisted and he's right. Its one thing if one of us hears, but both of us? That's more than just some mere coincidence.

"It's probably just stress. Hallucinations come with stress. Jade, let's go back to bed." Jade gave me a concerned look before following Mark back to the bedroom.

"Marky thinks you're crazy? That's not good, right Evan?" That clown was back and he was sitting on Evan's bed. He didn't seem to be responding though, only tossing and turning in his bed. He started kicking Evan in his ribs, who still was unfazed. Are me and Kang hallucinating? Maybe that's exactly what that clown wants us to think.

"Sting, what do you want?" Kang asked.

"World peace, a fireproof leather jacket, a chance to meet the friends of my best bud Mark. You know, the basics." This guy is sick in the head, I could tell. He says him and Mark are best friends? That doesn't even seem possible.

"He killed you. Why can't you just accept that?" I ask him.

"Because, Mark has…what I want."

"Jade?" I look at Kang like he's crazy. This feud between those two has been going on longer than Mark's relationship with Jade.

"Interesting, she is hot, but no. I want the Blades of Destiny. All six of them, or was it seven? Wait a second." We looked at him weirdly as he said the names of the blades to himself while counting on his fingers. "Yep, there are six. And I want them all."

"You can't have-

"Princess?" I see Jade's head pop out the palace bedroom. I wonder if she saw Sting. From the look on her face, she obviously didn't. "Who are you arguing with? I heard a third voice." I look around the room to see that Sting disappeared again. I don't know what the point of him doing this is anyway.

"It's nothing Jade. We'll just go back to sleep." I motion for Kang to follow me to the bed that's opposite the palace bedroom. It's a pretty big bed, fit for a princess of Outworld. At least, that's what I used to be. Then Mileena was created and I learned that Shao Kahn was nothing more than my wicked stepfather. Now, I'm marked as a traitor and I'm supposed to be killed by anyone who faces me in Mortal Kombat. So far, that's been Sheeva, Baraka, and technically my own mother. However, they've all fallen in some way. I can't believe it, but I'm one of the final 8 in this tournament. The other 7 are Jade, Melina, Scorpion, Sub-Zero, Mickie James, Randy Orton, and John Cena. I'm surprised the tournament is still going on with all the interference that's taking place.

"Did you hear the one about the girl?" I shriek when I hear Sting whisper in my ear. He seems harmless, for now. If anything, he's really annoying. "She almost killed one of her own in this tournament." I know exactly what's he talking about. That John Cena guy had to stop Mickie from killing Nightwolf, who apparently is the same type of Earthrealmer she is. "She defeated a machine. Now, she teams with her worst enemy against her best friend and the fallen Princess of Outworld."

"Why are you telling me this?" I ask him.

"You should know, Princess. You constantly compare Mickie to Jade. You should know what happens when Jade gets angry. Probably should pray to your Elder Gods that Mickie doesn't kill you." He vanished and didn't appear for the rest of the night, something that I was grateful for.

* * *

><p>This is a sight I'm not used to. Jade is opposite me, as my opponent. Jade herself seems out of her element, especially since Mickie is her partner. I find it hard to tell if Shang Tsung is happy about this. He seems to be aging rather quickly. My mother is still at the side of Shao Kahn and it makes me sick to my stomach to see that.<p>

"Ready, FIGHT!" Shang Tsung calls out and the fight officially begins.

I didn't know who I should fight. If I attack Mickie, that leaves Jade wide open and I don't want Melina to hurt her. If I attack Jade, I'm fighting my best friend for several millennia. Melina stretched her arm to punch Jade square in the mouth, which immediately caused blood to drip out her mouth.

"I don't know about you, but I do intend to win." Melina's right. We should still fight, no matter who we face. If I look at this as just sparing practice, then I don't feel so bad.

Since Melina charges Jade, I go after Mickie. She anticipates it and just sidesteps me. I only stumble a little bit, but when I turn around, she spins around and kicks me in my head. This does drop to the ground and I feel like, what do the Earthrealmers say, 'see stars'. Mickie doesn't give me any time to recover as she immediately kicks me in my head. Out of the corner of my eye, I see a dispute between Mickie and Jade. Mickie kicks Jade in her stomach and then her head. The distraction gave me an opportunity to use one of the blades from my fans to slice her stomach. While she held her stomach in pain, I used my fan to lift her in the air and deliver several punches to her abdomen before kicking her to the ground.

I teleport in front of her body and kick her in the face just like she did me. She grabs her face in pain and rolls over onto her knees. I could have sworn she was capable of taking a lot of pain. This is what I heard from Jade, Melina, Mark, and several others. She was in a lot of pain from just one little kick to the head. Or was she? I cautiously walked over to Mickie and lifted up her head to see if she was really in a lot of pain.

It was a decision I would forever regret. Mickie pounces on me before I could even react, but she doesn't strike me or anything. Instead, she kisses me. The kiss, it feels weird. At first, I fight it with everything I have. This causes Mickie to increase the force of the kiss. I feel her slide her tongue inside my mouth and I find myself doing the same thing. I feel the pressure lighten up a bit, probably because Mickie didn't believe I would get into it. Neither did I, but there have been a lot of surprises in this tournament. Just as I started really getting into the kiss, Mickie pulls back.

"Say goodnight." The last thing I remember seeing was Mickie's kick connecting with my face.


	14. Chapter 13

**Jade's POV**

I just threw my razorang at Melina before tripping her up with my staff and slamming her down to the ground. I knew she was finished. It was almost too easy. I looked over at Mickie and saw that she was making out with Kitana. I can't believe Kitana's actually liking it, but then Mickie pulls away…and kicks her in the jaw. I run over to Mickie only to receive a kick myself. I hold the side of my mouth to see blood is dripping from it.

"I said stay out of my way Jade." Who does she think she's talking to? Melina?

"FINISH-

Before Shang Tsung could finish, I grab him with my staff and throw him to the ground. "Not in the mood, sorcerer." When he tries to lift his head, I kick it right back down to the ground. I know Mark is back at the palace, so that's where I decide to go.

"Jade, wait!" I turn around to see Mickie running up to me and I'm immediately prepared to fight her. She lifts her arms up in surrender. "I come in peace, surprisingly."

"What do you want?" I demand out of her.

"Kitana and Melina. They're still our allies."

"Aren't you the magical healer? Why don't you do something?"

"Really Jade? Cut the bitch act for just five minutes and check on your so-called friend."

"Don't you dare question the friendship between me and Kitana."

"Then quit thinking about fucking a guy you've only known for a few weeks and start thinking about helping your friend for more than a millennia." I hate Mickie. I can't stand her. If I could kill her myself, I would. However, she's right. Kitana should be my main focus, not Mark. I run back to the arena only to see Shang Tsung and Shao Kahn blocked us from entering.

"Great, now look what you've did," she says.

"What I did? No one told you to leave!"

"Aren't you the almighty Edenian guardian? Why weren't you protecting Kitana?"

"Why do you care? It's not like she's John or Randy."

"You've already shown that if they don't have green eyes or tattooed arms that you don't give a damn about them!"

"I've been protecting Kitana for thousands of years." I faintly heard a voice, but I was too angry at Mickie to care about where that voice was coming from.

"Really? Are you protecting here now?"

"You're the reason she's unconscious!"

"And what the fuck did you do about it!"

"Ladies!" Mickie and I turn to see that the wall of flame is gone. Sindel is no longer under mind control, which I know the Princess will be relieved to hear. Also, Mark is holding a long golden blade in one hand…and Shao Kahn's head in the other. If I'm not mistaken, that's the Sword of Heaven that Mark told me about. It's one of the Blades of Destiny. By the Elder Gods, what power do those weapons hold?

"Mark….

"Save it Jade." Mark walked up to us and looked over at Mickie, "Heal, now!" Mickie scurried away and right now, I actually wish she was still here. I have never seen Mark give me that look before and I don't want it to be a look that I get often. I look down at Shao Kahn's head and fear that's gonna be me next. The Sword of Heaven has blood dripping from the tip of it. I wonder of Mark is thinking of doing to me right now.

"Mark, I'm-

"Just go back to the palace, Jade."

"Mark-

"I said go!"

Mark was not too far behind me as we walked back to the palace in complete silence. I turned back a few times to try and see what was going on his brain, but I got nothing. This shouldn't surprise me. From the first time I saw him in Earthrealm, he was a hard one to figure out. For that reason, I knew I had to get to know him better. The opportunity was given after Melina killed Mileena, a memory that still brings me joy. There just seemed to be an instant spark, or maybe those were just his hands. As we arrived at the palace doors, I saw Mark throw Shao Kahn's head to who knows where in Outworld.

"Listen, I-

"Jade, save it." I was still a little frozen since he still had the Sword of Heaven in his hand. I think he noticed that's where my vision was and dropped the sword immediately. "We're going to the Netherrealm."

"Who are we?"

"Me and you are going to the Netherrealm. I wanna deal with Sting before he truly does become a nuisance again."

"There are several Netherrealmers that will try and stop you."

He picks up his sword and throws it to me. "That's why you're coming with me. That sword was crafted to pierce through any opponent with ease. It should help against anyone who tries to stop you."

I looked at the sword with much awe. Even with the blood on it, the value of the sword was still very clear. I look back at Mark. "How can you trust such a valuable sword to me?"

"Because I trust you Jade." That was the sweetest thing he's ever said to me. "Jade, please don't-

I drop the sword and push him back against the palace doors, capturing his lips in a kiss. I felt his hands move to my butt as he cupped them and deepened the kiss by sticking his tongue in my mouth. I open my mouth up for entry and I caress the tattoos on his arms. His head bends down to kiss my neck and I caress the back of his head while he licked down to my collarbone. I gave a low moan as he ripped the strings on my outfit, something he really enjoyed doing a lot. Still kissing and licking on my collarbone, he exposed my breasts and kissed my lips some more.

"We could use some privacy," Mark said in a voice that made me melt. He lifted me up and I wrapped my legs around his waist as he kicked the door open and threw me down on the bed before closing and locking the door.

"You're always so rough," I purr to him while rubbing the ever growing bulge in his jeans.

"You're always such a damn tease." I gasped when he grabbed my foot and practically yanked off my boot. He put that leg on his waist while he took off my other boot and put that leg on the other side of his waist.

I sat up and unbuckled his jeans before pulling them down and I was glad to see he was just as ready for me as I was for him. He continued to tease me by rubbing the material of my outfit between my legs against my clit. I really hate when he does this. He knows he doesn't need to do all this to get me aroused for him. He leans over and kisses my lips before moving to remove the rest of my fighting gear.

He inserts himself fully inside of me with no sort of warning whatsoever. I wouldn't have wanted one anyway since I told him I liked it rough from the star. I moaned as he thrust himself inside of me before flipping me over onto my hands and knees. Mark fully slammed his cock into my wet pussy. He gripped my hips as he slammed himself in and out of me. He's never been so aggressive with me before. I love it!

"Dammit Jade," he groaned through gritted teeth as he fucked me mercilessly. I tilted my head down and gave a loud moan from him giving me so much pleasure. I used my hand to start fingering myself, adding to the already intense pleasure I was feeling. Just as I felt an orgasm, Mark grabbed the hand I was playing with myself with and flipped my whole body over.

"Oh baby, you know I love it rough." I purred while teasing my clit with my free hand.

He gritted his teeth and grabbed my other hand by the wrists before slamming into my pussy again. He held my two hands in the back of my head while he gave me a rough kiss. I moaned loudly in his mouth as my walls began to tighten around his cock. He pulled away from me and I frowned. He moved back onto his knees in a vertical position and thrusted even harder inside of her.

"Oh…Mark," I moaned as I tilted my head back and began to massage my clit with my finger. He grabbed the hand and began to suck on the finger while he moved to his back and moved me on top. Mark gripped my hips tightly and bounced me wildly on his cock. I put my hands on his chest so I would keep my balance while riding his cock.

He grabbed me by the back of the head and pulled me in for a kiss. He let out a deep groan as I started moving my hips faster and faster on his cock. Mark pulled from the kiss and looked into my eyes that were almost the same shade of green his were. "You're so fucking beautiful, Jade." With that, I cried out his name as an orgasm hit me. I heard him mutter my name and he had an orgasm as well. I rolled over to his side and placed one hand on his chest while the other caressed his face.

"So, how are we supposed to get to the Netherrealm?" I ask him.

"Apparently, I didn't know as much about my blades as I thought I did. The Sword of Judgment can be used as a teleportation device." I watched him as he got off the bed and went to his get his Sword of Judgment. It was a beautiful sword indeed. I could tell why it was his favorite. With all the electricity sparking off the sword, it must power his electric attacks.

"You really should have knowledge about your weapons like I do." I stood on my knees and lifted my razorang up and down in my hand. "Like, I know everything about my razorangs. There are no surprises."

"I'm 46, not 10,000," he replies while getting his sword. "You should put some clothes on."

"So should you." I throw his pants at him while he throws my outfit at me. I put my outfit back on and I watch as he stares at me. "Can I assist you with something?"

"Nothing at all Jade. I just need to know if you're gonna be safe in the Netherrealm." Awww, he does care about me.

"Of course, what's a couple of dead souls anyway?"

"What about Scorpion or Noob Saibot?"

I got off the bed and stood right in front of him, caressing his cheek. "You worry too much for me. With your Sword of Heaven and my fighting skills, I have nothing to worry about." I can tell from the look on his face that he doesn't believe. "Mark, you said you trust me. So trust that I'm gonna be okay."

"Alright. I trust you Jade. It's not like you've ever given me a reason not to."

"Exactly, so why worry so much? Is there something you're not telling me Mark?" I put my hands on my hips waiting for his response. I can tell he wants to say something, but I can't be so sure of what it is.

"In these past few months I've had to suffer in this horrid place, I've taken a really strong liking to you."

"I believe the word you Earthrealmers use is love." I know that's what he means. He loves me. I love him too, but he has to say it first.

"Fine Jade, I love you." There it is.

"I love you too. Now, can we get to the Netherrealm?"

"Gladly." I laugh since I know he hates showing any kind of affection. The fact that I got him to say I love you so easily shows how much power I have over him.

He points the Sword of Judgment towards the grand palace room so he could hand me the Sword of Heaven. Then, he pointed the sword to the ground to teleport us to the Netherrealm.


	15. Chapter 14

The Netherrealm is so eerily similar to Outworld. The creatures are all demon-like and evil is the obvious aura. Mark keeps me close as we walk around this place as we look for Sting. I clinch the Sword of Heaven tightly in my hand as I see some demons staring at us. They also seem to withdraw from the light of the sword. I guess that's why Mark entrusted me with it.

"Can I help you?" A voice says from behind us says. Mark and I turn around to see Sting right there. He has the appearance that I've heard from Mark and some of Raiden's Warriors. The black leather jacket. The painted face. A baseball bat. His whole stance screams freak show. "You must be Jade. Wow, you're even hotter in person. Can you protect me, Guardian?" I throw my razorang, but he catches it and throws it back at me. Good thing I catch it.

"Don't try something like that again," Mark whispers in my ear. I nod my head in understanding.

"Mark, long time no see. How ya been Buddy?" he asked.

"What do you want, Sting? I'm not in the mood to play games."

"What makes her better than me, huh? I bet I could treat you better!" Has this man lost his mind?

"Sting-

"I asked you first for the Blades of Destiny! How come she gets them?"

"Have you lost your mind? Why would entrust you with something so powerful?" I braced myself when Sting pointed his bat at Mark. This freak show is not touching him if I could prevent it.

"I'll show you. Take a walk, will ya, Guardian?" I roll my eyes at him before looking at Mark. He nods his head, indicating that he actually agrees. Usually, this is because he doesn't want me to get hurt. For that reason, I agree and walk away. Since the Netherrealm is still relatively unfamiliar to me, I keep a tight grip on the Sword of Heaven.

I haven't walked far from where Mark was from Sting. I want to make sure he's always in my gaze when I turn around. If I don't see him, it means that I've walked too far. It's just in my nature to protect people, whether forced or willingly. In Kitana's case, it was forced, but soon became willing. She's been my best friend for several centuries and I wouldn't have it any other way. With Mark, it was pretty willing. He outsizes me in every way, and he told me that he doesn't need protection. With backstabbing allies and psycho enemies, I'm surprised he hasn't needed protection. Then again, the Blades of Destiny are apparently very powerful. I wonder how he acquired them, but that's another question for another time.

I stop walking and turn around again. Mark is still in my sight, but how could he not be? He's a very large man. I then take another look at the Sword of Heaven. The beauty of this sword is simply breathtaking. It's easy to see that this sword could slice through a person with ease. It comes to a point, a very sharp point. From me gazing at the sword so much, I barely noticed the fireball that came my way. I expect Scorpion or Quan Chi, but instead, I see Randy Orton. It's a shock to see him in the Netherrealm. He may not be aligned with Mark anymore, but I never would've thought he would be with Quan Chi.

"You're alone?" he asks me.

"No, not at all. I have Mark, my razorangs, and one special little weapon." I didn't flash the Sword of Heaven, since I'm aware of how sneaky he is. I don't even mention that it is one of the blades.

"He entrusted you with one of the blades, huh?" I don't nod or anything. I just stand there and look this traitor in the eye. "Mark always has been pussy-whipped. He's been married three times, plus he slept with Mickie. Mickie James, now that's a sight to behold. You, not so much." I throw my razorang right at him, only for him to catch it and moves closer to me. I, however, stay right where I am. "I know the real reason why you hate Mickie. You're jealous of her because me and you both know a little secret, Jade."

I wonder what he's talking about. "What secret Randy? What thing could that tiny brain of yours even comprehend?"

"If Mickie wanted to, she could have Mark. At any time, she could take him from you and there's not a damn thing you could do about it. You should be thanking John, since he keeps Mickie pre-occupied. Given one opportunity alone with Mark, there may be a repeat of that fateful night a few months ago."

"That's what you think." I know Randy's trying to get me mad. I've been taught not to let emotion get the best of me. He's gonna have to try way harder than that.

"No, that's what I know. I've known Mark for 10 years. I don't know him as well as you know Kitana, but I do know Mark better than you do."

"Enlighten me then. What's Mark doing here in the Netherrealm since you seem to know so much?"

"Sting, isn't that obvious. He wants to get rid of that really, really bad rip-off of the Joker. Johnny Cage would have been a better Joker than him."

"Why are you here in the Netherrealm?" I ask suddenly, which seems to catch him off guard.

"Let me ask you, what reason do you think I'm down here for?"

"You've aligned yourself with Quan Chi."

He nods his head, "Of course that's what you would think. In actuality, I lost control of my power and I ended up down here. In complete honesty, I have no idea how to get out of here. That hurts since I'm still in the tournament."

"So am I. Would you like for me to eliminate you now?" I was now in my fighting stance. I think I've had about enough of him.

"I'd like to see you try." He throws my razorang and I catch it with ease. I finally get to fight him. I've wanted to shut him up since one of the first moments I've seen him.

He looked at me weirdly when I started glowing my green color. It seemed like he didn't know what to do. I used that opportunity to kick him in the midsection, sending him flying. He got back up almost too quickly, and then I remembered how good of a fighter he really was. He had Liu Kang think he was down and out, only to come out of nowhere to eliminate him from the tournament. I charge right at him with my staff and sword, but he trips me over. I didn't land on any of my weapons, thank the Elder Gods, or else I would have serious problem right now.

In my vision, I see his feet. Using my staff, I trip him over on the ground and prop myself back up. I lifted his body up with my staff and gave him an even harder kick to the face. I'm not sure how much damage this kick caused, but I hope it did enough. He seems to be hurt in his shoulder, but I've seen him and Mickie both feign being hurt before. For that reason, I don't let up on him and continue my attack. The spot on his shoulder that he's holding is exactly where I think my staff, inwardly smirking at his cry in pain. His head rises slightly and I hit it with my staff to make it fall back to the ground. It serves him right for everything he's done in this tournament.

I'm so wrapped up in trying to hurt Randy that I didn't realize I dropped the Sword of Heaven. I turn away from Randy once I feel that he's not gonna get up until after I find this sword. I look around and I see it where Randy tripped me. I'm glad that it's still there and some Netherrealm creature didn't get their hands on it and taint the beauty of the sword. As soon as I try and pick it up, Randy spins me around and somehow slams me to the ground. That had to be one of the most painful things I've ever experienced. I see him pick up the sword, but I'm too sore o stand up at the moment.

"Give me one reason why I shouldn't use this sword to slice your pretty little face open right now!"

"You're an evil person. You belong here." I use my staff to pick me up. Randy watches me the whole way as I stand up, which freaks me out a little bit.

All of a sudden, he slices the strings of my outfit. "Hmm, now I see why Mark is so fascinated with you. You have a really nice pair of-

I didn't even give him a chance to finish before I kicked him where I knew it would hurt. He doubled over in pain and dropped the sword in the process. Good, his filthy hands were really ruining the sword. I then used my staff against his stomach. I moved quickly behind him and hit him in the middle of his back and in the back of the head. He fell to the ground with a huge thud. I knew he was down.

Stepping over his unconscious body, I stick my staff in his shoulder. "1….2….3…..4….5….6….7…8….9….10. Shang Tsung would give me the option to finish you right now. That's exactly what I'm gonna do." I try to pick up the sword to slice his head open, only for someone's hands to get there before I do. I look up to see that it's Mark.

"He still has his uses. Don't kill him…yet."

"Do you get Sting?" I ask him.

"No. Quan Chi teleported him away just as I was about to forever send his soul to the purgatory."

"I fear Quan Chi is the biggest threat."

"Your fear has come true. He is. Let's go back to Outworld, even with this son of a bitch." Mark teleports all of us back to the Outworld palace. First sight I see is Mickie stepping back from a bloody corpse. She looks traumatized and she then looks at her bloody hands. I don't think she knew she was capable of doing such a thing. This was the same girl who was scared to kill a person.

"Mickie-

"I killed him….I killed Johnny Cage. I didn't mean to though. He was just really annoying me and then tried to attack me. I just wanted him to leave me alone." I felt a little bad for her. As good a fighter she was, she didn't kill anyone. There was the time she almost killed Nightwolf, but that doesn't really count. I look at Mark, who seems speechless. This must be very out of character for her.

"Mickie, take Randy outside and heal him," Mark tells her and she obeys. After she leaves, Mark kneels down to Johnny's body. "She's a healer, not a killer. I wonder what Johnny did to provoke her."

"Why do you care?" I ask. I could tell by the way he looked at me that it wasn't the response he expected.

"Jade, she's an ally."

"What about Melina? You didn't care when she killed Mileena!"

"It wasn't accidental Jade!" he shouts at me, "Where the hell is all of this attitude coming from?"

"Why do you even care about me? What about Mickie or your other three wives?"

"How do you-

"Know? That's none of your concern. All you need to know is that I heard it from someone who wasn't you. From what I understand, relationships are about honesty. You haven't been really honest, have you?"

"My past is none of your business."

"It is when your 'past' is in my face, all the time, and forced to be my partner in Mortal Kombat!"

"Are you jealous?" There it is again. Am I jealous of Mickie? I have no reason to be, but I think I finally know what it is.

"No, I envy her. She got to meet a great guy before I did." I can tell Mark relaxed a little bit. I even saw a smirk appear on his face.

"Jade, I don't love Mickie. John loves her. I love you." He said it again, and it wasn't forced this time.

* * *

><p><strong>AN: I had a little poll up to help me figure out who should win the tournament. The top two voted fighters will face each other in the finals in the tournament, with the winner of the poll actually winning the fight. The final 5 competitors are: Jade, Scorpion, Sub-Zero, Mickie James, and John Cena. To give you a hint of the finals, I will say that Jade is in it.**


	16. Chapter 15

**Mickie's POV**

After I healed Melina and Kitana, I walked over to John, who was waiting for me in the audience. He still wanted to know if I would join him and Randy. Respectfully, I turned him down. Not because I realized that Mark was a good ally, but because I realized I wouldn't want him as an enemy. Seeing him hold Shao Kahn's head in his hands kinda forces a choice out of you. After I made my decision, Randy and John just left me alone in this area. This was first time alone in Outworld and I wasn't too happy about that. My best bet was to walk back to the palace and relax my nerves. As I walked back to the palace, I was stopped by Johnny Cage.

"Where's your friend with the stretchy body?" he asked me.

"Melina? She went off somewhere with Kitana and Evan." Again, I'm forever alone. All my friends have abandoned me. They all think I'm disloyal, which in actuality, I'm probably the last person to backstab anyone in this tournament. Even Jade as much as I can't stand her.

"Oh well, maybe some other time."

"Johnny, where are the others?" I ask him. It's unusual to see Raiden, Sub-Zero, Smoke, Sonya, Johnny, Jax, and Nightwolf separated from each other.

"Some other part of the palace, giving Jax a new pair of arms," he replies. A new pair of arms? I'm pretty sure Melina was hoping he died from blood loss.

"Why aren't you there with them?" I ask. They probably kicked him out. I can't even sit through a Johnny Cage movie. How do they deal with the actual thing?

"Decided to take a walk. I'm not a fan of real blood, only fake."

"Then why are you here? The objective of Mortal Kombat is to fight to the death," I say to him.

"I know but, I only realized that afterwards. By then, it was too late to back out. Hey, are the rumors true?" Rumors? I guess gossip exists everywhere; it's not just a human thing.

"What are you talking about?"

"About you being a good kisser. Because I'd like to see for myself."

"No, Cage, I'm not interested." I walk back to the palace, half expecting to see Mark and Jade arguing. Instead, the palace is empty. No Mark, no Jade, nothing. I turn around to see that Johnny followed me, "What are you doing here? I told you: I'm…not…interested!"

"Come on, I know you're just acting. You should consider it for a second career."

"I'm not acting, Cage. Go away!" I shout again.

"You really expect me to believe you'd hook up with a guy like Mark and not me? You're crazy lady," he moves to kiss me, but I push him away. "No need to be a tease babe. No one's around."

"Hello, Johnny! What about Sonya?" To my knowledge, he and Blade were a couple. I was one of many people surprised that her and that Jackson Briggs guy weren't a couple.

"Sonya? Yeah, she's hot. You, are hotter." He tried to kiss me again, but I pushed him even harder.

"Johnny, leave!"

"Listen, I don't make offers like this all the time. Take the damn opportunity!" He grabs my arms and tries to kiss me. I keep turning my head so he doesn't get my lips. The grip on my hands gets tighter and tighter. I try and wiggle my way out, but for some reason, he's too strong. "So, about that kiss." He went for my lips one more time, but I spit in his eye. "You bitch!"

He sends a green energy blast my way, but I block it with my staff. I charge at him and hit him right in the skull with it. This tournament has caused me more frustration than I would ever allow show, and Cage is the perfect outlet. I keep hitting him with the staff on random parts of the body. I see Mark. I see Melina. I see John. I see Randy. Most of all, I see Jade. Before I know it, he's immobile. There wasn't a single part of him moving. I put my staff down and go to his side. I feel for a pulse, but I feel nothing. He's dead, and I'm his murderer. Mickie James, the person who heals all wounds, has just killed someone.

There was a white light in the room and there I see Mark and Jade standing there with Randy's semi-lifeless corpse. They both notice the dead Johnny Cage and I try to explain myself. Mark doesn't care and just tells me to go away and heal Randy. I carry his body outside the palace to heal him. His eyes open and a rare smile appears across his face. This causes me to smile back at him. When his hand reaches out to caress my face, I place my own over it.

"Mickie, Randy! I've been looking all over for you Randy. Where you been?" We turn around to see John running towards us. From the start of this tournament, John and Randy have been like my brothers, though one wants to sleep with me.

"The Netherrealm," he replies. "Mark and Jade were there too to look for Sting. Long story short, Jade eliminated me from the tournament."

"How?" I ask. Jade is strong, but Randy should have been able to take her.

"Mark gave her the Sword of Heaven. Why, I don't know." That's strange. Mark never gives out the blades. He fears it will somehow get into the wrong hands if not in his care. Yet, he gives one to Jade.

"Pussy-whipped, that simple," John replies. That sounds like a logical answer and something John is very knowledgeable of.

I take a closer look at John and see that he has scars. "John, what happened to you?"

"In looking for Randy, I came across Scorpion and Sub-Zero, who formed an alliance with each other. They thought I was aligned with Quan Chi and they both attacked me. Since they both were still in the tournament, I guess I eliminated them." Two for the price of one. That's cool, I guess. I will admit, I thought Scorpion would be able to win this.

"Glad to see you're not as bruised as you should be." That's about as close to 'glad to see you're okay' we're ever gonna get out of Randy. Compassion is not a popular emotion for him.

Randy and John were talking on and on about something and I got lost in my thoughts. I still couldn't believe I killed someone, out of pure rage and emotion. I don't lose my temper often since I think of the consequences first. But this environment has really had me going off the deep end. I mean, I almost killed Nightwolf, a fellow Native American. If I saw him on Earth, I would ask him to teach me how to channel spiritual energy from ancestors, not attempt murder.

"Mickie, you're alright? You seem out of it," John seems to observe. In this tournament, I thought Melina would be my best friend. I was severely wrong. I now see these two as my best friends.

"I killed Johnny Cage," I blurt out.

"You what?" Randy asks.

"I killed Johnny Cage. I didn't mean to, it's just that-do you guys hear that noise?" It sounded like an angry mob, but I don't think they gave those down here.

"What noise?" Randy asked. The noise started getting louder and louder. It wasn't Sindel either.

"I kinda hear it too. It sounds like feet." John just said my thoughts. I heard a lot of tales about this place and so far none have thankfully proved true for me.

"You mean that?" Randy points in the direction of a horse. A rapidly approaching horse. I should be scared, but instead, I'm mesmerized. It's so beautiful. It's black with a purple, blue, and gold saddle. Its mane is a fine jet black, which just adds to the beauty.

"Mickie, get out the way!" I hear John say, but I ignore him. The horse was mere feet away from me, but I still did nothing. When the horse was right in front of me, it stopped. I can tell that surprised John and Randy, but I do have a way with horses.

"It stopped. How?" Randy wondered.

I went to the side of the horse and petted it gently. It responded with a happy neigh and I notice its sparkly, silver eyes. It was a large horse, outsizing every person I've seen in this tournament. However, I still manage to be able straddle onto it. "Maybe Outworld isn't so bad."

"Mickie, you don't know what that is," John says, but I ignore.

"I do," a voice says. We see Raiden appear before us in his usual stoic form. "It is commonly known as 'Shadow Stallion' for its inability to cast a shadow when galloping due to its high speed. However, its official name is shared with one of the Blades of Destiny, Silver Stallion. Whosoever tames this horse is the rightful owner of the blade."

"Mickie, the Silver Stallion, it's yours," Randy says and John nods. "You have claim to one of the most powerful weapons in all the world."

"That's for me to decide, not you Randy." The palace doors open and Mark and Jade appear…with Johnny's dead body. "I would say he should get a proper burial, but I don't really care." I faintly care about what's done with Johnny's body. I notice Jade has the Sword of Heaven in her hand. Mark has the Silver Stallion, most likely to mock me.

"Mark, you heard Raiden-

"Since when does Raiden determine who I give my blades to?"

"You're right, he doesn't," Randy concedes, "How exactly do you determine who to give your blades away to? I'm pretty sure Mickie is more qualified than Jade no matter what." I respect him defending me, but I'm not sure how smart this is. Pissing off both Jade and Mark while they have those weapons in their hands is not a good idea.

"Besides Mark, you heard Raiden; whoever tames the horse is the rightful owner. Mickie is probably the only person who can actually use that sword anyway."

"He's right," Raiden says. "Mickie James is the only person who can unleash the power of the sword." Despite the current intense situation, I'm quite blissful. Being able to pet Shadow's mane has brought happiness I haven't felt in a long time.

"Did you hear that Mickie?" I hear Jade say.

"No, what just happened?" I ask.

"Mark's not giving you the blade unless you prove you're worthy. Apparently, taming a horse that could trample all of us isn't enough proof." John shoots Mark an angry look, which is returned of course. We've always had disagreements. That's how we maintain stability. However, our source of stability, Evan, is MIA. Even then, he can't fix the ripple this tournament has caused. It's easy to blame Randy for the ripple, but he wasn't the only factor. Neither is he the biggest.

"It's a just horse. What does that show, John?" he asks.

"It's 11 feet tall and was coming at us at a speed I've never seen before. Yet, it abruptly stopped in front of her. You don't think that's impressive in any way?" Considering my height, that is impressive.

"It's…decent, I suppose."

"I'd like to see you try and do that," I challenge. He just looks at me and chuckles like I'm some sort of joke. When I knock his girlfriend's head off, he won't be laughing.

"As much as I'd like to-

"You can't," Randy finishes. "Raiden, be a God and force him to give her the sword. It's hers and you know it." Seriously, why isn't Raiden enforcing this rule or anything? He's supposed to be more powerful than all of us.

"Only the Elder Gods can enforce it. I am not an Elder God."

"Therefore, it's not yours." This bitch Jade. I can't stand her.

"Keep talking, you'll be the next corpse I kill."

"You want the sword so badly, Mickie?" Mark asked me.

"I deserve it," I reply.

"Then defeat John in Mortal Kombat."


	17. Chapter 16

I can't believe Mark is making me fight John. As annoying as he is about wanting an actual relationship with me, he is a good friend. At the same time, Mark needs to know that I'm an elite Supernaturalis like him and Randy are. Shadow Stallion doesn't just stop for anybody, but she stopped for me. Yeah, I figured out Shadow was a girl. How? Well, she spoke to me in my head. I don't know how, but she did. Right now, she's charging me into battle with one of my best friends in this horrid place.

I arrive in the Outworld Arena to see a very reluctant John Cena and a very old Shang Tsung. It was just a few weeks ago that he had jet black hair and very nice skin. Now it's all gray and wrinkly. I wonder how that happened. Maybe Shao Kahn was his fountain of youth. With Shao Kahn dead, he can't exactly kiss Quan Chi's ass. Jade, Mark, and Melina had little smirks on their faces. Evan and Randy looked a little uneasy. There are the only two that understand the gravity of this situation. Melina thinks I'm a traitor, Jade thinks I want Mark, and Mark is pussy-whipped so his opinion really doesn't matter. Then again, maybe this fight between me and John will bring everyone closer together. Maybe seeing one of us, most likely John, being pummeled to a pulp will make these dumbasses come to their senses.

"John, I don't wanna do this," I say as I get off Shadow and enter the arena.

He nods his head in understanding, "I know Mickie, neither do I. I know you want the Silver Stallion, but I'm not gonna just give it to you. You have to fight for it."

"I know, John. I wouldn't expect any less from you." Fighting John will be difficult. He defeated Scorpion and Sub-Zero, two fighters who are more than capable of holding their own.

Shang Tsung was too weak to give a verbal beginning of the fight, so he just waved his hand. It felt so much like a wrestling match with the way we were sizing each other up. We're both very reluctant to attack each other. My reason is friendship, while John's is morals. He doesn't hit females and I'm actually the first one he's faced in the tournament. I take a closer look at the sidelines and see Quan Chi holding some sort of skull. It seems harmless, but then I see the eyes glow green. Out of nowhere, I feel a hard tackle and see it came from John. That skull, it's a mind control device. Damn, that's how they killed Kelly. Shang Tsung took control of Mileena and the rest is history as they say.

"Johnny, why?" I try to talk to him. It's to no avail. Quan Chi's control over John's brain is too strong and I'll just have to fight him. He's no longer my best friend or my one time lover. He's someone preventing me from getting the Silver Stallion…and my hands on Jade in the finals.

Apparently, Shadow didn't take to kindly to Quan Chi's interference. She took it upon herself to even out the playing field by stomping her front legs on the ground and shaking the arena floor. This caused John to tumble to the ground and allowed me to get back up. From the start of this tournament, I was at the disadvantage of having practically no offensive powers. The only thing I had was a weapon. Though Jade faced a similar problem, hers is a projectile, mines isn't. I didn't let it affect me in the previous rounds and I don't plan on letting it affect me now. Once I see John's head snap back up slightly, I throw my staff right in his nose. I immediately see the blood gushing out of it and dripping down his otherwise perfect face. Focus Mickie! He is the enemy.

I walk over to him and pull my staff out of his nose, or at least I attempt to. John manages to get a hand wrapped around my legs and trips me to the ground. I feel a sharp, painful hit from my staff on the curve of my back. I know for a fact that it's not that strong, and neither is John. This is definitely Quan Chi's doing. I then feel it again on the bare part of my back. This is probably the worst pain I've ever felt. That says a lot since I've been wrestling for the better part of 12 years. John hits me again with my staff and I think I heard a cracking noise. Never would I have thought my final match in this tournament would come with a broken back. At least if I die, I won't feel that much pain anymore. It would be probably be wise to use my healing powers on myself, but sadly that won't work. This is because I need a chance to take a breather. It's obvious that John will not be giving me one.

The break I needed is given to me by Shadow, who always seems to know when I'm in danger after only 24 hours. I watch out of the corner of my eye as she tackles Quan Chi to the ground, thereby bringing John back to a normal power level. He's still strong, but at least he's manageable. John returns to normal and my back is allowed to heal. I see my staff on the ground and immediately pick it up. The tactic I'm about to use is pretty dirty for my taste, but he deserves it whether or not he knows it. While John is still working out the kinks of Quan Chi's spell being broken, I charge at him with my staff. It lands in his abdomen, which is enough for me to swing it back and forth. I then lift him in the air and then spike him with my DDT. I step back while Shang Tsung counts to ten, signaling that I've won the match.

Instead of finishing him, I go to Shadow who practically wants me to pet her mane. It seems that Shadow makes my wounds heal quicker when I pet her. To the side of me, Mark and Jade come up. "Can I help you?"

"Finals begin now. If you win, you could have the sword," Mark says. The fact that Jade has the Sword of Heaven in her hand makes me very uncomfortable.

"If I don't win?" I wondered. Death seemed like the obvious answer considering the tournament we're in, but you never know with these two.

"Death of course," Jade replies, "Slow and painful death." she better hope my conscience decides to kick in after I kick her ass.

"Hush woman," I reply, "I'll meet you 20 feet from here." I stop petting Shadow and walk back to the arena ground. I must say, Shang Tsung looks really comfortable in that throne chair that Shao Kahn once occupied. It does look comfy, I must admit. However, that throne chair is meant for Kitana's ass, not his old ass. Not long after I arrive on the arena floor, Jade decides to make her entrance.

"This will be easy," she says.

"Just like you." She tries to throw a razorang at me, but I just move my head to the side and duck from the recoil attack. She seems impressed by this little act of defense.

"Ready, FIGHT!" Let's see, should I do psychological warfare with Jade or just straight up kick her ass? I look down at the Sword of Heaven and realize psychological would probably be the best route for me to go. I'm not trying to get sliced open like Shao Kahn.

"You know Jade, I really thought we could have been friends," I start off. Technically, I'm not lying. I really thought we would be friends. But then she got really, really mean!

"That's nice," she throws that boomerang again and it cuts my shoulder, barely. I just look at my shoulder and it heals.

"I've always wanted a friend like you. So strong, so loyal, so hot." Got her! Jade is practically frozen in place. The mind vanquishes the sword all the time, every time. I guess it's time to up the stakes so to say.

I start walking closer to her seductively and she actually points the sword my way. "Mickie, I won't hesitate to use this against you." Her voice is shaky when she says it. Her resolve is breaking.

"Oh Jade, you would point that sword on li'l ol' me?" the southern drawl was coming out, and it was weakening her. "It's not often I get to admire a woman of such beauty." My hand touches the Sword of Heaven so I could get her to lower it back to her side, and it works. I cup her cheeks in my hands, "I never thought I would have to wait until the finals of the Mortal Kombat tournament to do this-

I kiss her. I don't even know why. Maybe it's to get back at Mark. Maybe because I really want the Silver Stallion. Or maybe I just really have wanted to kiss Jade. They all have equal probability. Her lips are really soft…softer than Kitana's. So I guess it makes sense that Jade is the better kisser. I jump a little at the feel of her hands on my ass, but I relax soon enough. The corner of my eye catches Mark's facial expression and he doesn't look happy. Oh well, you win some, you lose some.

Just like with Kitana, I pull away from Jade and prepare to kick her in the head. Just as I do it, but she catches my foot, "You really think I was gonna let you win that easily?"

I give her a sly smirk, "Never would I ever, darlin'." Obviously, she's never seen watched an episode of professional wrestling. If she did, then she would know that I could kick her with my other foot, which I did. She looked like she wouldn't get up and I'm pretty sure that I won this match.

"FINISH HER!" Wait, what? Shang Tsung finished counting already? I really need to stop thinking about other things. Instead of killing her, I walk over to her little boyfriend on the sidelines. He doesn't look impressed, but he sure as hell better be.

"I beat your little girlfriend, and I won this tournament. That sword is mine."

"It was a cheap win." Really? That's the bullshit he wants to pull now. My patience is really starting to wear thin with him.

"Mark, I'm the Mortal Kombat champion. Do you not understand that?"

"Mickie-

"No, don't Mickie me. I beat Jade. I beat John. I beat Blade. Hell, I beat Nightwolf. An 11-foot horse that otherwise probably wouldn't have seen me, stopped in front of me. You don't think I deserve a sword that is otherwise useless to you?"

"I was gonna say that your horse has it. Still, good speech." I look at Shadow and see that the Silver Stallion is indeed in her saddle. I look down, slightly embarrassed by my outburst. I run to Shadow and take the sword out of her saddle. It's rather gray looking. I wonder why a sword associated with a horse as beautiful as Shadow is so damn dull.

What I see next is something I've never seen before. The sword starts glowing and the glow circles around me. I feel like it's given me some sort of new power. Either that or it's made me more powerful. The glowing ends and the sword has a new, brighter silver color. Now I really do see why they call it the Silver Stallion.

"Congratulations. There's no person more deserving of being called champion than you," Randy says. It's the nicest thing I've ever heard Randy say. I run towards him and hug him tightly. "Too tight, James. Too tight." I release my grip around his neck, but my bright smile is still there.

"Truly amazing," I see Raiden, John, and Evan walking towards me. "You are the champion of Earthrealm and Mortal Kombat. May the Elder Gods continue to bless you with continuous growth and strength."

"Thank you Raiden."

"I have to admit, you're good." I tilt my head behind Randy and see Mark and Jade coming towards me. "It's not often I meet someone better than me, but you certainly are."

"Thanks, Jade. Where's Kitana?" I ask her.

"She should be-where's the princess?" Jade starts panicking. "By the Elder Gods, I've lost Kitana."

"Don't worry Jade. I'll help you find her. It's the least I can do."

There goes my celebration.

**A/N: So, Mickie is the Mortal Kombat Champion. Don't hate me, I just went by what majority of my readers wanted. Honestly, I thought Scorpion would be the winner.**


	18. Chapter 17

**A/N: The events in Liu Kang's chapters happen around the same time as the events from Chapters 14-17, which are Mickie and Jade's chapters. Also, Mickie's chapters were the last in first person point of view. From here on, it's going to be third person limited.**

* * *

><p><strong>Chapters 1718: Liu Kang**

Raiden was putting the finishing touches on Jax's new arms. They were bigger and better than his old ones. Jax didn't mind because he knew he would probably be able to cause more pain with them. Liu Kang watched as Raiden used his godly powers to fix the arms into place. Everyone was thanking Raiden for being their guide throughout this tournament, but he knew better. He knew Raiden was the reason they were going through everything that they had to go through in Outworld. Liu Kang didn't believe the BS about it being to 'prevent Armageddon'. He felt that Raiden's interference would only cause Armageddon, not prevent it.

"Alright, I feel stronger. I feel bigger. I feel badder. I feel better," Jax said as he sat from the table. He flexed his new cyber muscles, admiring them. He wondered what kind of damage he could cause with them.

"Great, now we can get back to the task at hand. Stopping Shao Kahn and preventing Armageddon," Raiden said. Liu Kang rolled his eyes and looked over at his good friend, Kung Lao. He seemed to believe Raiden's words, but Liu Kang wasn't so gullible.

"There's a match going on right now, Raiden. Should we check it out?" Sonya Blade asked.

"Who is in it?" Raiden asked.

"To my knowledge, it's a tag team match. It's Mickie James and Jade against Kitana and Melina." Liu Kang's ears were brought to attention at hearing Kitana's name. He left her side after the match began and regretted it since he made her promise she would never leave his side. Yet, he wasn't there when she needed him. Liu Kang never told her this, but he was in love with her. He knew that he should be with her right now, but Raiden had told him he was needed for something urgent. The only emergency he could see is Jax getting new arms and showing them off to anybody that actually gave a damn.

"I should go to it. Come, Kung Lao," Liu Kang requested. The two Shaolin monks were walking out of the door to go watch the match. Liu Kang hoped it hadn't ended yet. If he knew Kitana like he thought he knew her, she would put up a serious fight.

"Liu Kang, wait!" Raiden called out.

"What is it, Raiden?" he asked, slightly annoyed. Everyone in the room, including Liu Kang himself, were surprised by the tone in which he responded to a God. Only humans bold, or stupid, enough would attempt to do something like that.

"You and Kung Lao are needed. We have to figure out how we are going to defeat Shao Kahn and prevent Armageddon. You cannot leave just yet."

"Raiden, we have done nothing since you told me I was needed here. I'm sorry, but I have to be with Kitana. Kung Lao, let's go," Liu Kang again stated. He didn't want to deal with Raiden or any of the Chosen Warriors anymore. The only thing on his mind was Kitana and making sure that she was safe. He didn't know the damage Mickie James was capable of, but he could almost guarantee that it was a lot.

When Liu Kang arrived at the Outworld Arena, it was surrounded by a wall of fire. Since he had fire powers himself, he thought he could penetrate through it with little to no damage. However, Kang underestimated the intensity of the heat and was burned for his efforts. He shook off the effects and tried to see if a fireball would be able to create a hole in the fire wall. This plan also proved to be no avail as the fire just went through the wall and didn't come back. There was no way for Liu Kang to look through. He worried greatly for the welfare of Kitana and hoped that she was okay and unaffected by this heat.

"By the Elder Gods," Liu Kang watched in amazement as Mark held Shao Kahn's head in one hand and the Sword of Heaven in the other. He never thought he'd see a mortal be able to do that to one of the most powerful sorcerers in all the realms. On the other side of the arena, Kang saw Jade and Mickie have an equal amount of amazement on their faces. At this point in time, Liu Kang knew that these were not ordinary superhumans. From the corner of his eye, Liu Kang saw Kung Lao come up next to him.

"That is amazing, unheard of," Kung Lao muttered. He took off his bladed hat and bowed, "I bow to him. He has the powers of a God. Liu Kang, Raiden called for you to come back."

"What does he want?" Kang asked, starting to really get frustrated with him.

"He thinks there is a bigger threat out there than Shao Kahn-

"Obviously. He's now dead isn't he?" It was unusual sarcasm for Kang. At this point in time, he had about enough of Raiden as he can handle.

"Liu Kang, quit it! We have to assist Raiden. It's our duty as Shaolin Monks to protect our temple and all of Earthrealm," Kung Lao reminded. Liu Kang rolled his eyes, but he agreed. Kung Lao led the way back to the Chosen Warriors area of the Outworld palace. Not surprisingly, the Homo Sapiens Supernaturalis were on the completely opposite side of the palace. At the same time, both places were set up by Kitana, considering that she was still Princess of Outworld. Liu Kang and Kung Lao arrived back at the hideout right in the middle of Raiden talking to the warriors.

"Ahh yes, Liu Kang and Kung Lao have returned," Raiden greeted, "We were just speaking of going to the Netherrealm. That's where that Sting character and Quan Chi are. Scorpion is also there, who has agreed to be our ally."

Liu Kang, like Scorpion and everyone else, found out the real killer of Scorpion's clan, the Shirai Ryu, after the late night sneak attack by Shao Kahn and Sindel. Liu Kang was one of the last to find out since he was fighting Randy, but he was just as shocked nevertheless. Despite being shocked, he wasn't surprised that Quan Chi would do something so sinister. Scorpion and Sub-Zero made peace, forming their own Netherrealm-Earthrealm alliance.

"What about Noob Saibot?" Smoke asked.

"I'll deal with him, Tomas," Sub-Zero declared. "I have unfinished business with my brother."

"And the rest of us are expected to deal with Quan Chi?" Kung Lao asked.

"Not exactly Kung Lao," Raiden started, "With Shao Kahn dead, Shang Tsung was in need of a….security blanket you can say. He furthered the alliance between him and Quan Chi by allowing creatures native to Outworld to go into the Netherrealm. Since Quan Chi rules the Netherrealm, he had no problem with it."

"And we're supposed to deal with them while you handle the combined might of Shang Tsung and Quan Chi? I don't think so Raiden," Liu Kang stated emphatically.

"Liu Kang, this is not an option, it's an order," Raiden realized how harsh that sounded and immediately wanted to take it back, "Liu Kang I'm sorry. I didn't mean for it to come out that way."

"But it did Raiden!" Liu Kang shouted. "Why should I join you when all you've done is make everything worst for us?"

"It's not me, it's Mark. He's the reason why we're so divided," Raiden tried to reason.

"Why? Because he showed the flaws of his God? Because he showed that you're not as strong as everyone says you are? Is that why, Raiden?"

"Liu Kang, please," Kung Lao tried to reason.

"I just wanna be with my girlfriend. Is there something so wrong with that?" Liu Kang finally calmed down to explain the reason for his outburst. He only wanted to be with Kitana and felt like Raiden was ruining that chance.

"There are more important things to deal with Liu Kang. You can see Kitana later. Now come, we must go to the Netherrealm," Raiden ordered calmly.

"But what if I die, Raiden? I won't be able to tell Kitana I love her. Please Raiden, let me see Kitana one last time," Liu Kang pleaded.

Raiden showed no sign of breaking resolve, "Liu Kang, I assure you nothing bad will happen to you and you will see Kitana again. However, we must go to the Netherrealm, now." Just as the Chosen Warriors were ready to teleport away, Liu Kang started to make his way towards the exit. "Liu Kang, where are you going?"

"To see Kitana, and there's nothing you could do to stop me Raiden," Liu Kang said and walked out the palace doors in such of Kitana. He knew by now she definitely was not in the Outworld arena, but knew she still had to be somewhere in the area. He knew there was going to be backlash for his disobedience, but he didn't really care at this point. He was eliminated from the Mortal Kombat tournament and should be returning to Earthrealm soon.

As he approached the arena, Liu Kang felt himself being forcibly lifted off the ground by some sort of telekinesis. At first, he thought it was Raiden punishing him for not wanting to go to the Netherrealm. As he was dropped to the ground, he got a look at who the person was, and it certainly wasn't Raiden. This person had green eyes and their head was covered with a black wrap of some sort. It was safe to assume he was a ninja like Scorpion and Sub-Zero, but that didn't stop the mystery from being there. Liu Kang never recalled seeing this person in the tournament, so he wondered who this was.

"We will defeat you, on behalf of our late lord Shao Kahn," the red ninja said.

"Who are you? Who is 'we'?" Liu Kang asked.

"We are Ermac. We will defeat you," they said before lifting themselves in the air in an intimidation attempt.

"Ermac, the creation of Shao Kahn," Liu Kang marveled. "I will ensure that you join your creator in the afterlife!" Liu Kang jumped towards Ermac with a slew of kicks to the face. The power of the kicks was enhanced by the fire on Kang's feet. Ermac fell to the ground with a hard thud, but quickly recovered. Ermac got back on their feet and blasted Liu Kang with green energy as he was doing so. Liu Kang winced a little in pain before getting back up. He dusted off some of the dirt on his shoulder and narrowly caught Ermac's second attack. He managed to dodge the energy projectile while sending out a fire projectile of his own. It caught Ermac right between the eyes.

Just as Kang was about to deliver a second fire projectile, Ermac disappeared. Just as Kang turned around, he was hit by the force of their shoulder attack. Ermac used his telekinetic powers to lift Liu Kang in the air and flipped him upside down. They then proceeded to drop Kang on his neck, causing some teeth to fall out his mouth and blood to gush out his nose.

"We will now defeat you, on behalf of our late lord Shao Kahn," Ermac repeated again. Kang was too weak to offer up any resistance, so he silently prayed to the Elder Gods that these weren't his last moments living. Just as Ermac was about to kill him, their body was sliced by a steel fan. Since they were merely a collection of souls, it didn't kill him. Kang got excited because he thought it was Kitana's, but it turned out to be Melina's.

"Not what I expected, but I'm grateful nevertheless," Liu Kang said to Melina. "Melina, where is Kitana?"

"We were walking to the palace, but then we got separated somehow. I don't know where she is now," Melina answered.

"I suspect Quan Chi and Shang Tsung are behind this," Liu Kang stated, "Come, Melina. We have to find Kitana and save her."

Melina nodded her head and followed Liu Kang on his journey to find Kitana.


	19. Chapter 18

"Melina, do you have any idea of where she may be?" Liu Kang asked her as they walked towards the palace. Kang stopped for a second and looked down. Under his feet were black marks along the ground, "What's this?"

"I've been around Mickie long enough to know what this is," Melina started to answer, "They're horse tracks. I didn't even know they had horses in Outworld."

"They don't," Kang answered, "Did your friend bring a horse with her?"

"No," Melina answered, "Do you think these horse tracks will lead us to Kitana?"

"I'm not sure, to be honest. They should be a good start though." Kang led Melina along the trail of the horse tracks and it stopped right in front of the back door of the Outworld palace. Kang opened the door and looked inside. "That's strange."

"What? What's the matter?" Melina asked. "Liu Kang, what do you see?"

"Nothing. There's not a single person here." Liu Kang closed the door and looked on the ground to find some more horse tracks. Somehow, the ones that were already there disappeared. "The horse tracks are gone. How did that happen?"

"Maybe that horse is magical. Why don't you ask Raiden?" Melina suggested.

Liu Kang looked at Melina like he was insulted by her suggestion. "Raiden is in the Netherrealm. He can't answer my question right now."

"Maybe she's with Jade. I can almost guarantee Jade is at the Outworld arena since she's still in the tournament to my knowledge."

Liu Kang never even considered Jade as someone knowing where Kitana is, yet she was probably the person that most likely knew. If Jade didn't know where Kitana was, then his chances of finding were looking very slim. "Melina, you're a genius. Of course Jade would be the person to know where Kitana is. Why didn't I think of that?"

"Blinded by love, perhaps?"

Kang smiled and blushed for the first time since being out the presence of Kitana, "Yeah, that's probably what it is."

"Well, then let's go-

"Wait, Melina!" Liu Kang called out to her just as she started walking towards the arena. "Can't you stretch your body really far?"

"Yeah, why what do you need?" Melina asked.

"Instead of wasting a trip to the arena, can you stretch over to it to find out if Kitana is there?" Kang asked. He hoped it wasn't too much to ask for since Melina already helped him so much.

Melina nodded her head and stretched her body to the Outworld Arena, overlooking the whole area. She saw Mark and Jade on the sidelines, Shang Tsung, Quan Chi, Randy, and a mysterious black horse. She assumed that's where the tracks came from. In the arena itself was Mickie and John fighting. Still, there was no Kitana in sight. Sighing, she went back to Liu Kang to deliver the bad news.

"Did you see her?" Kang asked like an excited child waiting for their Christmas present. The happiness went away when he saw that Melina didn't share in his sentiments. "You didn't see her."

"I'm sorry Kang," Melina replied, "Is there any way of getting around in Outworld?"

This wasn't Liu Kang's first trip to Outworld, yet he didn't really know the answer to the question. His method of transportation was Raiden and he was in the Netherrealm. However, he felt like he could answer Melina's question.

"My trainer, Bo' Rai Cho, was a native of Outworld-

"And you trusted him to train you?" Melina asked with a shocked look on her face, "Isn't everyone from Outworld evil?"

Liu Kang shook his head no. "Melina, Outworld may have an evil emperor, but not every person in Outworld is evil. Bo' Rai Cho trained both me and Kung Lao." Kang looked at Melina's facial expression. She seemed satisfied with the answer. "He told me the form of transportation around here is called the Dragonfly. It's not sorcery, but it's something."

"Well, where is this Dragonfly thing your teacher told you about?" Melina asked.

"Honestly Melina, I am not sure. However, I'm pretty sure if we look around, we'll be able to find it," Liu Kang assured. He and Melina began walking around Outworld looking for the Dragonfly Transportation System.

"You better be right, Monk," Melina shot back. She stepped in front of him to show him her blades. "If you're not, you could join Mileena in the afterlife."

"Such a frightful woman," Kang remarked as he and Melina continued walking around to find the Dragonfly.

Kang found himself looking over at Melina a lot during their walk. Her jet black hair, brown eyes, and curvaceous body would make someone think that she and Kitana are sisters. Melina certainly had more attitude than Kitana, attitude that could probably rival Jade's. To Liu Kang, Jade's condescending attitude was a turn-off. With Melina, it seemed to be turning him on.

"Hey, do you wanna take a break?" Kang asked out of nowhere. He actually forgot the reason why he and Melina were walking around. Somehow, Melina caused Kitana to exit his thoughts.

"Why? Don't you wanna search for Kitana?" Melina asked.

Kang looked at Melina with a confused look. "Kitana who?"

Now it was Melina's turn to look at Liu Kang weirdly. "Your girlfriend. The Princess of Edenia and Outworld. The reason we've been walking around for an hour. Does this ring a bell to you at all, Liu Kang?"

Liu Kang slapped his forehead with his palm in realization. "Kitana….right. Sorry Melina, I guess I was just distracted by other things." What he really meant to say was that she was his distraction. It wasn't intentional, but it happened. Kang tilted his head down so he wouldn't look at her. He knew he would forget about Kitana again if he looked at Melina's face.

"Distracted from finding your true love? This must be some pretty good distraction," Melina replied with an amused look on her face.

"Yeah it is," Kang joked back, "It is a very pretty distraction."

Liu Kang tensed up when he felt Melina close to him. He didn't need to look down to know she was near, he felt her breathe on his arm. He then felt her nudge him a little in that same arm. "Tell me Shaolin Monk, what is this great distraction?"

When Melina moved away from him, Kang rubbed the spot on his arm where her breath was. He was losing it again. "Can we just drop the topic, Melina? We really should be searching for Kitana."

Melina smiled and held her hands up in surrender, "Fine have it your way. No more talk of your wandering eye."

"Thank you," Liu Kang replied with a bow of his head and they continued looked for the Dragonfly. Kang was starting to believe it was a lost cause since his heart wasn't really in it anymore.

"So, Kitana is about 10,000 years old," Melina started, "How was it to like…you know…have sex with an older woman?"

Liu Kang stopped and blushed again. This time, he actually turned to look at Melina. "Me and Kitana never actually…did that. We just cuddled and that's it."

Melina intertwined her fingers together as she bought it up to her cheek and tilted her head. "Awww, how sweet." She reached out and removed a stray strand of black hair out of Liu Kang's face. If only she knew what her touch seemed to be doing to him. "A man that cuddles without sex. That's my kind of guy. Kitana is so lucky to have someone like you."

How could she still be single? Why hasn't a man been captivated by her beauty yet? These questions ran through Kang's head over and over again as he and Melina continued walking around Outworld. Liu Kang stopped at the sight of the Dragonfly. It did look something like the shape of Dragonfly. To Liu Kang however, it looked more like a mobile arena ground. He grabbed a hold of Melina's hand so she would stop as well.

"This is the Dragonfly?" she asked and he nodded his head. "It's bigger than what I expected. Shall we go ride it?"

"Yeah, let's go." Liu Kang assisted Melina as they both boarded the Dragonfly. Kang noticed the torch and the torch in the back. He immediately knew that it was powered by fire. Looking directly at the front of the Dragonfly, Liu Kang sent a fireball to the first torch, which also caused it to start moving slowly. Liu Kang turned to the other torch and sent a fireball that way as well. By this point, the Dragonfly was moving at full speed. Liu Kang jumped when he heard a slight scream come from Melina. "Melina, are you okay?"

"Yeah, but this thing is faster than El Toro," Melina replied, grabbing a hold of the ground and giving him a weak smile. As Melina was ready to brace herself, it stopped at the entrance of the western wing of the Outworld Palace, where Raiden and the Chosen Warriors were just a day before. She got up and brushed some dust of her black tights. "It ends quicker than El Toro too."

"Would you mind telling me what El Toro is?" Liu Kang asked.

"Well, in English it means 'The Bull'," Melina started in her explanation as her and Liu Kang got off the Dragonfly. "But it's a ride at the Six Flags-Great Adventure amusement part. It's one of the world's largest wooden roller coasters. Does this ring a bell to you?"

"I have heard of Six Flags Great Adventure from Kung Lao. He told me about another ride. Kingda Ka I think it was called."

"Oh yeah, Kingda Ka. I've never been on it, but I would love to. Maybe after we get out of here, me, you, and Kitana could go there." Liu Kang agreed, but without Kitana. He couldn't believe it only took a day to fall out of love with her. Kang figured it was because he wasn't really in love with her in the first place. He watched Melina as she turned her body to the palace, "This is the Outworld Palace. Yet, it doesn't look familiar."

"Well, that's because you and the rest of the HSS weren't on this side of the palace. That's why this may not seem familiar to you," Liu Kang answered. Just as they were about to enter, the two were forced off their feet and seemed to travel through a vortex. The vortex led them to a different part of Outworld. It was Shang Tsung's Flesh Pits.

"Liu Kang, please to see you could join me," Shang Tsung said arrogantly and maniacally. Liu Kang couldn't help but notice how aged he looked. He wondered how long it's been since he last absorbed a dead soul.

"What are you up to Shang Tsung?" Liu Kang demanded to know.

Shang Tsung had a wicked smile on his otherwise pale and wrinkled face. "I just wanna congratulate you Earthrealmers. An Earthrealmer, Mickie James to be exact, is the new Mortal Kombat champion."

"You brought us all the way here to tell us that?" Melina shouted. "I could have figured that out if I went back to the palace. Where is Kitana?"

"Kitana is safe at the palace where you were just teleported away from," a voice behind Kang and Melina. The two of them turned around momentarily to see the voice belonged to Quan Chi.

The momentary distraction was all Shang Tsung needed to attack Shang Tsung with an otherwise weak fire projectile. However, it was strong enough to send Liu Kang to the ground. Unbeknownst to Liu Kang, Shang Tsung's attack was assisted by Quan Chi, greatly weakening him. Melina immediately went over to his side and held his head in her lap. "Liu Kang, are you okay?"

Looking in her eyes sealed the deal with Liu Kang. "I wanted to tell Kitana I loved her because I feared something would happen to me. After spending this day with you, I realize that I don't wanna spend my last moments breathing with Kitana. I wanna spend them with you. Melina, I love-

_Melina watched as Liu Kang mouthed 'you' while Baraka, a servant of Shao Kahn brainwashed by Quan Chi, sliced Liu Kang's head open. Melina felt tears stinging her eyes and watched as one fell on Liu Kang's lifeless corpse. Melina had also fallen in love with Liu Kang as they spent this day together and Baraka had taken him away from her. She set his body on the ground gently and pulled out her steel fan. She kissed the metal and pointed it at Baraka, "This is for you Liu Kang." As Baraka charged her, Melina did a split to avoid his attack. She immediately got right back up and sliced Baraka's body open right down the middle. The sight of internal organs splitting apart and splattering all over the ground brought a smile to Melina's face._

_Melina turned her attention to Shang Tsung and was about to attack him. Before she could, Quan Chi grabbed her arms and made her immobile for a temporary amount of time. She watched helplessly as Shang Tsung absorbed Liu Kang's soul and regained the youthful look he had at the beginning of the tournament. Turning his attention towards Melina, Shang Tsung used his new fire powers to set Melina on fire. Shang Tsung had a wicked smile as the fire burned off her flesh and took away all her beauty, just like she had done to his creation, Mileena, when she decapitated her. Melina's screams at the pain of her death were music to the ears of the Deadly Alliance. _


	20. Chapter 19

**Chapters 19/20: John Cena**

John, Mickie, Shadow, Evan, Randy, Jade, and Mark were currently in the Living Forest searching for the missing Kitana. During Jade's panic attack, Mark had managed to go back to the palace to get his Sword of Judgment so that they could teleport from place to place. This was the first place they began their search for Kitana. The whole time they were searching for Kitana, Jade was a wreck.

"Jade, it's not your fault," John tried to reassure. "You can't focus on trying to be the new Mortal Kombat Champion and Kitana at the same time."

"Don't you understand, you fool?" Jade exclaimed at him, "That's exactly what I'm supposed to do!"

"Calm down, female," Mickie said to her with a disgusted look, "John's only trying to help you." John looked over at Mickie and silently thanked her coming to his defense. She smiled back at him while holding onto Shadow's saddle as she walked beside the large horse.

"I don't feel helped," Jade replied sarcastically.

"You know Jade, maybe if you were next to Kitana instead of Mark during Mickie and John's fight, you wouldn't have lost her," Randy shot back. Issues were never really resolved. Determining Kitana's location caused a silent truce to be formed, which was probably broken by now.

"Excuse me?" Jade questioned, offended by Randy's words.

"I know that John and Mickie definitely agree with me when I say that we shouldn't be looking for Kitana. Jade's responsibility, Jade should look for her," Randy replied. John did it make it clear, but he actually did agree with Randy. Kitana wasn't their responsibility, so he didn't feel the need to look for her.

"Randy, we would do the same for you," Evan replied.

"No…John would. He was the only person looking for me when I got sent to the Netherrealm. Where were you, Evan?" Randy asked.

"Will you stop bothering him?" Mark asked.

"Will you stop being so damn whipped?" Randy shot back. "Honestly, do you even care where Kitana is? What has she done for us since we've been here?"

"She gave us a place to stay, Randy," Evan said.

"Define 'us' because last time I checked, they were three of 'us' plus a large horse that were not in that palace," Randy replied.

"Randy, either you shut up and help us find Kitana or-

"Or what, Mark?" Randy challenged, "Are you gonna kill me with the sword? Because I'd rather be dead than look at your face for another second."

Mark raised the sword, "Don't tempt me, boy."

"Kill me," Randy kept going. "Kill me Deadman." Randy slapped Mark in the face. "Come on 'match for the Thunder God', kill me! Now!" Mark lifted the sword swiftly and aimed directly for Randy's neck. Mark was an inch away from killing the source of all of his unnecessary stress.

"Wait!" Mickie shouted, barely saving Randy's life, "Kitana's at the western side of the palace. She's fine."

Mark dropped the sword and turned to Mickie. "How do you know?"

"Shadow's origin is the Netherrealm. She knows of everything that goes in it and with its habitants, including Quan Chi. He knew where Kitana was and just made it vocal to two people whose identity Shadow couldn't figure out."

"Why should we trust a horse from the Netherrealm?" Jade asked suspiciously.

"Why should we trust someone who served under Shao Kahn?" John shot back.

"Can we please stop?" Evan asked everyone. They all seemed to share in his sentiments. "Let's just go back to the palace and look for Kitana there."

John and the others turned on their heels to walk back to the palace and search for Kitana. He and Randy turned around to look at Mickie, who was sadly petting Shadow. John assumed they were speaking to each other telepathically, something that has become a daily occurrence over the course of 48 hours.

"Mickie, you coming?" John asked her.

"I'll catch up with you guys later," Mickie replied.

"We're not splitting from you, Mickie," Randy said. "Believe it or not, John and I don't want anything bad to happen to you."

Mickie turned to Randy and slapped the hell out of him. "Then why would you play with your life like that? Randy, you and John are like my brothers. I can't imagine losing either one of you. Why would you ask Mark to kill you Randy?"

John wondered that himself and turned to Randy for an explanation. "Honestly, I don't know. I guess I'm just frustrated that we're still here. Didn't Raiden say that the tournament prevented Armageddon?"

"Yes," John and Mickie replied in unison.

"And didn't Mark kill Shao Kahn?" Randy asked again.

"Yes," they replied again in unison.

"So why are we still here, trying to prevent Armageddon?" Randy asked.

"There are still Quan Chi, and Sting, and Terry," Mickie replied.

"Terry is weak, Sting is nothing more than a nuisance and Quan Chi is an opportunist. There are no opportunities for him to cease right now. Therefore, he won't be a threat."

"Don't be so sure-Shadow stop!" Mickie answered to Randy and commanded softly to her horse. Shadow didn't listen and instead nudged her again. "Shadow, what's the matter?" Mickie was silent for several moments before she turned to Randy and John. "We have to go to the Flesh Pits. Shadow feels a disturbance down there."

"Should we tell the others?" John asked.

"Well, we need some sort of transportation," Randy replied.

"Well, Mickie has Shadow and you have that whole fire version of the Silver Surfer thing going for you. That leaves me with no form of mobility," John replied.

"Shadow is a large horse. I don't think she'll mind carrying you, despite not being her master. Am I right?" Randy asked Mickie and she nodded. "See?"

"Okay, fine," John conceded, "Onto the Flesh Pits!"

"I'll follow Shadow," Randy said.

Mickie got on Shadow with John getting on behind her. Creating fire with his hands, Randy made a surfboard under him and climbed on. With Randy close behind, Shadow galloped almost as quickly as she did when John, Mickie, and Randy first encountered her. When approached by a huge cliff, Shadow stopped. On the other side of the cliff, however, was the Flesh Pits.

"What now?" John asked.

Mickie grabbed onto Shadow's saddle. "Hang on, Johnny." John grabbed Mickie's waist as Shadow and Randy jumped over the cliff and landed cleanly in the Flesh Pits. John got off Shadow first and guided Mickie down.

Randy turned up his nose as they entered the entrance to the Flesh Pits. "It reeks of dead bodies here."

"I smell that too," John said. "I also smell...something burning."

"Burning?" Mickie quipped before turning to Randy, "What did you burn on our way here?"

"No, it's not from Randy," John quickly added, "I think it's around this way." John moved ahead of everyone else and went to locate the scent of the burning something. His eyes widened and his stomach tossed and turned in weird ways.

"John, is everything-

Mickie and Randy stopped in their tracks at the sight of three dead bodies, two of which were their allies. Split evenly in two was the body of Baraka. Decapitated was the body of Liu Kang. Then, the source of the odor John and Randy both seemed to smell. The burning flesh of their closest ally, Melina. Mickie turned away and vomited profusely. John held onto Mickie's waist and pulled hair away from her face as she continued to vomit her guts out. Randy himself had to turn away from the bodies.

"I knew stuff like this happened in this area, but never would I ever think I'd see it for myself," Randy said to John and Mickie. Mickie had stopped vomiting, but was still feeling queasy and was now crying. He made his was to Mickie's side as the tears continued to fall from her eyes. "Mickie, it's okay. Everything will be fine."

"That's not why I'm crying, guys," Mickie replied softly. She broke away from both of them and raked a hand through her hair. She turned back to John and Randy with redness still in her eyes. "Melina changed during this tournament. She wasn't my best friend anymore. I hoped to make peace with her before she died. Shang Tsung and Quan Chi prevented that."

John and Randy looked at Mickie with a loss for words. Randy nudged John in the shoulder, urging him to go and comfort her. Randy then decided to go back to Bo' Rai Cho's home, which is where the three of them had been staying. John took the hint and went over to Mickie's side. He placed a hand on her shoulder and she turned to look at him with sad brown eyes. He wanted to know what he could say to make her feel better.

"Mickie, if there's anything you want me to do-

Mickie didn't let John finish his sentence as she reached up to wrap her arms around his neck and kiss him. "Make love to me, John. Please, I need this."

John was startled for a split second before giving in to her kiss. His tongue swirled around her mouth as he remembered how she tasted. His hands made their way to her ass and he palmed the cheeks and pulled Mickie right on his hard on. He heard Mickie moan his mouth and it made him even harder. John had been longing to feel her lips again and finally he had the opportunity. However, it just didn't seem right. She was in mourning. She was mourning over the loss of her best friend. Of course she would want him to make her forget about her problems. She didn't want to have sex with because she missed him like he did her. Mickie was using him and he didn't like it one damn bit.

Using every bit of willpower he had, John pushed Mickie off him. "Not like this, Mickie." He proceeded to walk away from her and probably find an alternative way back to Bo' Rai Cho's house.

John felt Mickie grab his arm and turn him around. Looking at her right now made him wonder why he turned her down before. "What do you mean, 'not like this'?"

"You're in mourning, I get that," John placed a hand on both of Mickie's shoulders and placed a kiss on her lips. "I don't wanna be a scapegoat. When we have sex again, I want it to be because you want it, not because it'll make you feel better." Mickie opened her mouth to say something, but John placed a finger over her mouth. "Don't try and tell me otherwise, Mickie. I could tell by the urgency that your feelings weren't true."

"I'm sorry, John," she whispered before wrapping her arms around him. "Maybe we will be together again, but not now."

"Regretfully, I agree with you," John replied as he rubbed the curve of her back with his palm. "Can we be friends with benefits?"

Mickie looked up at John and punched him in the arm, "What do you think the answer is, you fool?"

"You'll consider it over a glass of Outworld wine?" John presumed.

Mickie laughed and shook her head. She looked back at John, sincerity clear in her eyes. "Thank you…for making me laugh again. In record time, no less."

"It was my pleasure. And so are you in your TNA attire," John joked again, receiving another punch in the arm from Mickie.

"Speaking of Total Nonstop Action," a familiar voice to John and Mickie started to say, "How do you feel about TOTALLY drowning a pool of your NONSTOP blood. Terry, give me a good pun for action."

"What are you doing here in Outworld?" John asked Sting and Hulk.

"What does it look like we're doing here? We're getting our girl back and killing the man who's made a mockery of our sport," Sting responded. He pointed his bat at John and a red energy blast hit John directly in his chest. It only moved John back an inch, but he remained on his feet. "Whoa, you're stronger than I thought. Still, you're no match for the both of us."

"We'll see about that," Mickie declared as she held her arms out as the Silver Stallion appeared in them. She smirked at the look on their faces. "Surprised?"

"Honestly we are…but only a little bit," Terry replied.

"We were hoping to get you back on our side before you figured out you were the true holder of the Silver Stallion," Sting added, "But of course, Mark never lets things go my way." Sting swung his bat at Shadow's hind legs, causing the horse to stumble to the ground. "Whoops, my bat slipped."

"I'm sick of waiting around," John declared before he charged at Terry and knocked him to the ground. He tried to protect himself from John's punches landed furiously on his face. For the most part, it was to no avail since John would find openings and punch him there.

John pulled himself off of Terry before grabbing both of his legs and swinging him around in the air. John had recently gained the ability to have a side of effect of gusts whenever he would land an attack. This would make anything attack he does practically guaranteed to land. John swung Terry into a nearby tree, but he quickly rebounded and went to attack him. John jumped up and grabbed him by his blonde hair and lifted him higher in the air before slamming his down hard on the ground. John landed on his feet with a drop causing Terry's unconscious body to jump before he attempted to give him a finishing punch to the face. Terry grabbed John's arm and got back up.

"Terry! I feel him near, we have to go," Sting said as he swung his baseball bat in Mickie's abdomen. "Mark is gonna be here any second."

Terry let go of John and joined Sting as they teleported out of Outworld. Just like Sting predicted, Mark had teleported to Shang Tsung's Flesh Pits by using the Sword of Judgment. "John, Mickie, you aright?"

John got up first and grabbed his shoulder. He turned his back to Mark as he wrapped Mickie's arm around his neck and lifted her up by the legs. He then turned back to Mark. "Sting saw you coming. That's why he and Terry left."

Mark cursed silently under his breath. It was then he caught sight of Melina and Liu Kang's dead bodies. "Did Terry and Sting kill them?"

"No, Shang Tsung and Quan Chi did. They were dead when we arrived here," John replied.

"Where is Randy?"

"He went back to where the three of us were staying at. Sting and Terry showed up a while after he was gone."

"What would make Randy leave you two?"

"I wanted to be alone with Mickie."

"Get your priorities straight boy. This is no time for flirting," Mark warned.

"Please, don't lecture me. You're the last person who should give me a lecture on getting side tracked by a woman," John shot back.

"I'm gonna pretend I didn't hear that since you don't look like you need to take any more punishment than you already have." John wanted to say something, but he knew Mark was right. "Anyway, Kitana is safe in the palace. It would be greatly appreciated if you, Mickie, and Randy were as well."

"Yeah, well, we don't feel welcome around you guys," John answered.

"I'm not supposed to make you feel welcome. I'm supposed to make sure majority of you don't come back in a coffin. Two are already dead; would you like to join them?"

"No."

"Then be back at the palace by midnight before I go to your hiding place and drag you three to the palace." On that note, Mark teleported back to where he came from, leaving John wondering if it was time a truce is called.


	21. Chapter 20

John sat on Bo' Rai Cho's bed, staring at a portrait of the portly Outworld trainer on the opposite wall. He turned to Randy who had his arm folded against the wall and Mickie, who was pacing back and forth in the room. She would occasionally glance over at Shadow, who was slowly recovering from her wounds from Sting's bat. Slowly, her feet were becoming stable again. There was an awkward silence between the three, despite them all thinking the same thing.

"I wonder about the strength of Outworld bed springs," John said, finally breaking the silence, "I mean Bo' Rai Cho looks pretty fat from the picture. Yet, this bed seems to feel-

"Is that really all you care about?" Mickie shouted at him, causing John to flinch. "A fucking bed spring, John? Did you not hear what Mark said to us just an hour before?"

"Yeah, he wants us at the palace-

"Or else he'll drag us," Mickie added. Mickie looked back and forth between Randy and John. "I don't have a problem with going back to the palace, but I do have a problem with us being the ones having to swallow our prides and not him."

"Because he holds five of the Blades of Destiny and we hold one, that's why," Randy replied.

"Plus he's beaten both Sting and Hogan in the past. Me and Mickie got our asses kicked by them," John added. "I thought Hogan was weak."

"He is," Randy answered, "Unless in the presence of others. That's the only time he's strong."

"So if we isolate him, Sting and Quan Chi will be easier to deal with?" Mickie questioned for clarification.

"Easier said than done. It's very rare to see him without another Homo Sapien Supernaturalis. Even if you were to separate him, he could easily get himself back to Sting."

"You think Mark would know?" John asked.

"I think he would. Maybe he has a plan and wants us to take part," Mickie answered.

"Does this mean we're going to the palace?" Randy asked and Mickie nodded her head. "Forgive me if I'm not too keen on the idea. After all, I begged the man to kill me almost a day ago."

"Whose fault is that you're so stupid?" John shot back. "When it's all said and done, I'm not fixing to become Outworld barbecue like Liu Kang and Melina. I'm willing to admit I need help. What about the two of you?"

"Sure, I can admit that," Mickie answered. She walked over to Shadow, who was finally standing on all fours. She petted her mane while looking at Randy and waiting for his answer.

"I'll admit I can't do it alone," Randy answered.

John and Mickie shared a mutual look of annoyance with Randy. "As long as you're with us, I'm assuming that's all that matters." Mickie ran over to Randy and hugged him. Despite knowing the hug was a friendly one, John couldn't help but feel a little jealous of the affection he was being shown. "I don't wanna lose another friend. I don't think I could take it."

John came up behind Mickie and placed a hand on her shoulder. "You're not gonna lose us, Mickie. We're gonna make it through this and go back to Earth the same way we came, but stronger."

"We could start this process by going back to the palace. I'm not trying to be dragged anywhere in this place," Mickie stated. Mickie turned to look at Shadow, most likely to speak to her telepathically. "Shadow has enough strength to carry us now, John. Randy, are you ready?" he nodded his head.

Mickie guided Shadow outside of Bo' Rai Cho's home and straddled her. John got on behind her and Randy had created his flaming surfboard. They quickly made their way back to the palace with Mark, Evan, Jade, and Kitana. When they entered the castle, Evan and Jade were consoling a mourning Kitana. Mark just watched it all. It wasn't a surprise since Mark was never good at consoling females.

"So I don't have to drag you after all," Mark said as he saw Randy, John, and Mickie.

"Yeah, we've decided our limbs look better inside our body than out," Randy sated.

"And that you actually know how to defeat Sting and Hogan," Mickie added. "By the way, how do you defeat the two of them?"

"Well, there's Shang Tsung, Quan Chi, Sting, and Hogan that all have to be dealt with. Because of their strength, Sting and Quan Chi will be saved for last. So, who do you want to kill first, Hogan or Shang Tsung?"

"Shang Tsung!" Mark turned around at the sound of Kitana's booming voice. "He must pay for the death of Liu Kang!"

"Princess, please-

"Don't try and stop me Jade! He needs to pay for what he did!"

"I agree with Kitana," Mark finally said.

"What?" Jade exclaimed as she stalked towards Mark, "Shang Tsung can kill her!"

"No, he won't," Mark said calmly, "Kitana will not be alone. Jade, will you accompany her?"

"Of course, Mark," Jade replied. "It's my job."

Mark turned to Mickie, John, and Randy. "So, who wants to go after Hogan? How about you John?"

John looked at Mark like he was crazy. "I'm still recovering from my wounds that he gave me. Can't you go?"

"John, I know you can stop Hogan. I'm not asking you to do it right this second. Wait a day, and then go after him. Evan and Randy, I want both of you in the Netherrealm. Mickie, you're going to also protect Kitana with Jade. There's going to be no arguments, right ladies?"

"I'm good," Mickie replied.

"Well then so am I," Jade shot back.

"Mark, how are you gonna get Hogan away from Sting?" John asked. He didn't want to deal with both of them alone. Though never vocalized, John considered himself the weakest.

"Don't worry so much. You'll have Hogan all to yourself on Earth," Mark assured.

"Wait, so I'm going back to Earth? Is this permanent?" he asked.

"No, I'm gonna need you back. Plus, I'm going to want my blade back," Mark answered.

"But I don't-

John looked as Mark displayed the Sword of Judgment. He knew it was Mark's favorite, but not his strongest. John felt an urge to reach out and touch it. However, he didn't want to get hit with one of the stray sparks. It only made sense to John that he would be given the Sword of Judgment. It was the only he could get to Earth and then back to Outworld.

"You trust it to me? But why?"

"Because, I don't like Hogan, but I found you tolerable. So, you are going to take down 'the greatest of all time'."

"Oh, okay. So when does this plan take place?" Evan asked, speaking up for the first time.

Mark let out a yawn. "Tomorrow. After a good night's sleep. Jade, let's go." Mark and Jade went back to the palace bedroom while Evan, Kitana, and Randy went into a separate room in the Outworld palace. Because of this, John and Mickie were left alone. This was the opportunity John was waiting for, but definitely there was more security this time around.

Mickie turned John around and wrapped her arms around his waist. John returned the hug and held her tightly. He didn't want to let her go. He knew there was a possibility he wouldn't see her again. Despite knowing how weak Hogan is, he was weary of Sting. If this was how his last moments with Mickie were going to be spent, then he would cherish them forever.

"Mickie, I love you," John said.

Mickie looked at him, "John….

John pressed a finger to Mickie's lips and then moved his finger to kiss her. Mickie was shocked at first, but returned the kiss. She wrapped her hands around his neck and deepened the kiss. Their mouths devoured each other and they kissed like they were long lost lovers. Mickie jumped into John's arms as she pushed him against the wall. He slipped his hand down her jeans to cup her bare ass.

John felt like he was going to cum in his jeans. To prevent that, he grabbed a hold of her hips and moved her to couch that was in the middle of the room. "You have no idea how long I've wanted to do this again."

"You have the chance to do it now, John. Take it," she challenged.

John tugged at her denim jeans and unbuttoned them. He pulled them down along with her blue thong. "Has anyone ever told you that your ass is too big for the little material?" John went to kissing her inner thighs and enjoying her essence.

"Always…oh John!" she moaned out as he went to licking her throbbing clit. She undid her top and threw it on the ground as she grabbed the back of his head so he would go deeper. John put two fingers in her pussy while he licked her sensitive clit. Mickie moaned and grinded her hips against his two fingers and head.

"I miss you," he said as he placed kisses on her clit, "I love you, Mickie."

"Uhhh...huh," she moaned as John continued to lick her clit. He jumped a little when he felt Mickie's hands in his scalp and he licked even faster. "John…I'm cumming," she moaned loudly.

"Don't come yet," he lifted his head and just fingered her, "Tell me you love me."

"Ohhh….I…love…you," Mickie gasped out. she screamed his name one more time as her orgasm hit her like a wave. John licked one of his fingers clean of her juices with a satisfied moan and put his other finger in Mickie's mouth for her to taste. She sucked John's finger like it was an ice cream cone and he pulled out of her mouth with a loud pop.

"I've wanted to do this for years," John marveled. He pulled down his pants and freed his erect cock. He stroked it a little at her entrance before he fully thrusted inside of Mickie.

John almost came as soon as he felt himself inside of Mickie's tight, warm pussy. Every time he felt himself inside of her, it was a reminder that he waited too long to reunite with her. he thrusted hard inside of her and loved the sound of her loud moans. John moved a strand of her out of her face and kissed her pouty lips. They were so warm and inviting to her that he couldn't help it.

"Mickie…baby," John moaned. He was thrusting so hard inside of her that he pulled her off the couch and onto the floor inadvertently. He lifted one of her legs over his shoulder and continued pumping his cock in it.

"John...oh my god," she moaned. Mickie placed her hands on his elbows and threw him on the floor. She placed her hands on his chest as John's length

"Damn Mickie…you're so fucking tight," he groaned as he sunk his fingers into her ass cheeks. He used them to move her up and down on his erect cock. John closed his eyes and tilted his head back slightly enjoying the feel of Mickie on top of him.

"Cum with me, John," Mickie moaned, "Let's cum together." John groaned loudly as he and Mickie came. She collapsed on top of him as she rested her head on his chest.

"I love you, Mickie, so much," John said. he caressed the back of her head and rubbed his fingers through her hair.

"I love you too, John," she replied.

* * *

><p>John watched Mickie sleep peacefully. He placed a light kiss to her forehead as they continue to sleep on the unusually comfortable couch. He didn't even want to get out of bed and deal with Hogan. He just wanted to be on this couch all day with Mickie.<p>

"Guys! Guys! Guys!" Evan yelled into the room, waking up Mickie. Kitana was right next to him with a worried expression on her face. Jade and Mark came out the room, wondering what the matter was.

"Evan, where's the fire?" Mark asked, still half-sleep.

"Randy's missing. I don't where he is."


	22. Chapter 21

**Chapters 21/22: Randy Orton**

Randy, Evan, and Kitana went into a separate section of the Outworld palace. It wasn't too far from where John, Mickie, Mark, and Jade were. It was still creepy, like most of the Outworld palace. However, the creepiness of this section had a strange, comfy aura about it. It put Randy at ease, and he found himself able to relax. Even Evan was able to sense the calmness in Randy as he didn't seem tense from being around him. Randy looked over at Kitana and noticed that sadness was still clear in her eyes. Randy would probably never know the feeling of losing a mate the way Kitana had, and neither did he want to.

Evan, Randy, and Kitana stopped to admire Shao Kahn's throne room. Randy knelt over to Kitana and whispered in her ear, "That seat belongs to you, now."

Kitana turned to Randy and bowed her head in respect. "Thank you for the praise, but my mother is still alive. That chair belongs to her."

"I guess so," Evan added, "But I think me and Randy would rather your butt on that chair and not your mom's. No offense to Queen Sindel."

"Or her Gluteus Maximus," Randy replied with a snicker.

"Yeah, that too," Evan said with a bit of a blush.

"I'm glad to see you two are getting along," Kitana said.

Randy and Evan looked at each other with similar facial expressions. Randy knew it was true that he had been mean to Evan throughout this whole Mortal Kombat tournament. Now that he looked back on it, most of it was undeserved. Wanting to help Kuai Liang find Bi-Han to the point of even purposely eliminating himself from the tournament, calling him out on his shit despite the risk of being hurt by him, and just overall trying to be a peacemaker were all noble things to admire about Evan. Randy knew that if he was given the same opportunities, he would not have done the same things Evan did.

"Yeah, I guess," Evan said. Evan nudged Randy in the arm, "Not so bad right?"

Randy cut him an evil glare and Evan shook. He softened up when Randy flashed a rare smile, "I'm just teasing you, Matthew. You need to lighten up."

"Likewise, Randal," Evan shot back.

"You know, you're right. This whole scenario is just a really tense one," Randy answered truthfully.

"You could say that again."

"This whole scenario is just a really tense one," he jokingly repeated.

"I didn't mean that literally, ass." Evan gave Randy a light shove in the arm. Unfortunately, the slight touch froze Randy's whole arm. "I'm sorry, Randy. I'm still getting used to my ice powers." He placed his hands on Randy's frozen arm and melted the ice. "There, all better."

"Your fire powers have been improving, too. Any other surprises you wanna show me tonight?" Randy jokingly asked.

"Nah, I think you're done for the night." Randy and Evan turned to face Kitana, who was giggling silently. "Something funny, Princess?"

Kitana shook her head, "No, nothing at all. I just really needed to smile tonight. Thank you."

Randy wanted to say something, but there seemed to be no words coming out his mouth. He always thought Kitana was beautiful, but seeing her smile just put him over the edge. He couldn't act on those feelings though. Since Liu Kang was just murdered, it may be a little too soon. So sadly, he would have to wait. What made is worse is that Randy is not a patient man. If he wants something, he takes it. However, Princess Kitana is a special woman and he knows waiting is the right thing to do.

"Right, Randy?" Evan asked, nudging him in the shoulder. Randy had no idea what the two of them were talking about. To save face, he just nodded his head. "See what I told you, Princess?" Randy frowned when Kitana laughed at a joke that he wasn't in on.

"What's so funny?" Randy wondered.

"I told Kitana you weren't paying attention to the conversation and you were just thinking about how hot she was. I was right," Evan replied.

Randy wanted to strike him, hurt him, something for making him look like a fool. Then, he darted his eyes at Kitana and she seemed amused. Just by seeing her smile, Randy forgot all about his brief rage towards Evan.

"Yeah, yeah, yeah, she's beautiful," Randy admitted and Kitana blushed. "She maintains that beauty by sleeping, which we all need at this point."

Evan nodded at jumped to the bed closest to the door. "Outworld beds are so comfortable. If only Earth had beds this comfy."

"They do," Randy replied. "You just can't afford them at mid-card status." Kitana nudged Randy in the stomach, "With all due respect, Evan."

Evan pretended he didn't hear that and yawned, "I'm sleepy. Good night." Evan slipped in under the covers and went to sleep.

Randy wrapped an arm around the curve of Kitana's back and pulled her closer to him. "We should do the same thing." Kitana nodded her head in agreement. He guided Kitana to the large bed closest to the wall of the room and farthest from where Evan was sleeping. He tucked Kitana in before he slipped under the covers himself and went to sleep.

* * *

><p>He couldn't sleep. He didn't know why, but he couldn't sleep. Randy looked down at his pants to see if there was an erection in his pants from sleeping in the same bed with Kitana. Surprisingly, there was nothing. Maybe there was a noise that only he could hear. Randy quickly eliminated that notion from his brain because he didn't hear anything. So what was the problem? Why couldn't he sleep?<p>

A walk. That's definitely what he should do. He should take a walk. Randy quit thinking and got out of bed and began taking a walk around the palace. He was careful not to go outside, thoughts of Melina creeping into his brain.

"_Kingdom, __Animalia__," _Randy began to hear in his head. This voice was familiar, but he couldn't pinpoint it.

"_Phylum, __Chordata__. Class, __Reptilia__," _he heard again. He didn't know what the point of this voice was, but he wished it would stop and just leave him alone.

"_Order, __Daemonium__. Family-__Viperidae__." _Who was this person he kept hearing in his head? It was annoying him to no head. The worst part was he couldn't do anything about it.

"_Genus__, Homo. __Species__, Homo __Sapien__. Sub-__Species__, Homo __Sapien Supernaturalis__. __Human demon snake in a nutshell."_

"What's going on?" Randy finally had enough and he shouted into the air. He hoped everyone was in such deep a sleep that they couldn't hear anything.

"_Helping you find your true self, Randal. You really think they understand you? Join me Randal. I'll help you find your true self,"_ the voice said.

"How exactly can you do this?" Randy asked the voice. The voice didn't answer. Instead, Randy seemed to slip beneath the floor. This was happening again. Something, or maybe someone, was sending him to the Netherrealm. Randy didn't know if he was being tested or not.

Randy got up and dusted some of the Netherrealm residue off of him. "Welcome home, Randy."

Randy turned around and finally got a face to the voice in his head. "Quan Chi, what are you doing here? What do you want with me?"

"I want you to serve me in the Netherrealm," Quan Chi answered blatantly. Randy actually respected the boldness in his tone.

"Why would I do that?" Randy felt the need to ask.

"Because, Randal, I will give you what you want," Quan Chi replied.

"What exactly do I want?"

"You want to prove that you're stronger than Mark. I can help you unlock your true potential, my fellow Netherrealmer."

"Fellow Nether….what?" Randy questioned. This was only his second time being in this place and suddenly he was a 'fellow Netherrealmer'. "What the hell did you just call me?"

"Your friends…the Homo Sapien Supernaturalis are not just humans from Earthrealm. You all have powers that come from another realm. In your case, it's the Netherrealm."

"How do you know my power originates in the Netherrealm? Why can't it come from somewhere else?"

Quan Chi lifted his hand to make the number two, "Two reasons: Reason one is that I wouldn't know about it. I know all about Netherrealm power and who possesses it. Reason two is that hellfire can only be found in the Netherrealm. Also, your order is Daemonium, natives of the Netherrealm."

"So how come I was born on Earth?" Randy still didn't believe him.

"You are still a human. But your power comes from the Netherrealm," Quan Chi answered as best he could.

"And you just expect me to want to serve you? Because I may be from here?" Randy asked for clarification.

"I don't expect you to serve me because you come from the Netherrealm," Quan Chi replied. "I expect you to serve me because it will make you stronger. You will master your shape-shifting power and not even Mark will be able to stop you."

Randy took Quan Chi's words with a grain of salt. His shape-shifting powers were never the best. If he had to choose, he would return them back to wherever they came from. From the information he just received, it came from here. To think that he would finally be able to master it, the offer was very enticing. Almost too enticing.

_Quan Chi is an opportunist. _He remembered saying that to John and Mickie. If asked if he had any friends, those would be the first two people he named. They put up with him through everything and still considered him to be a good friend. How would Randy pay them back? By serving a man who constantly has a hidden agenda. Real friends didn't do that. John and Mickie wouldn't do that.

"Sorry, but I have too many ties on Earth to wanna be here in the Netherrealm," Randy answered.

"So, you will just accept your place as second best?" Quan Chi asked. "You will accept never knowing how truly powerful you are? Is that what you truly want Randy?"

"Like I said, I have ties with too many of them," Randy repeated.

"What have those humans done for you, besides hold you back?"

"Quan Chi, what can YOU do for me? Make me stronger? And once you do that, what's next? You're gonna take that power for yourself and then rule. I see right through you Quan Chi. I work for a guy like that. Hell, I used to be friends with a guy like that."

Quan Chi nodded and a smirk appeared across his face. "So, you're not a fool after all. You saw right through me, Randal. However, that will do you no favors."

"Oh really? What exactly is that supposed to mean, Quan Chi?"

"It means, if you are not for me, then you are against me." with that final statement, Quan Chi vanished.

Randy was left standing there, in his own thoughts. What was Quan Chi talking about? Randy kept looking around and he saw nothing. It didn't even seem like there was anything approaching him. Quan Chi was just bluffing. Randy was right in comparing him to Triple H and Edge, since he was nothing but an opportunist. Randy just foiled any opportunity Quan Chi thought may have been presented to him. With Quan Chi no longer being a concern of his, Randy now had to figure out how to get back to Outworld.

Just as Randy moved his legs to begin walking, something jumped on him. The something wrapped their legs around his waist and wouldn't let go. Their skin was that of a lifeless corpse, but the eyes still had its Tarkatan essence.

"Don't be silly. Join us Randy," Mileena tried to persuade. For some reason, he had a hard time shaking his head no.

Just then, Randy felt a soft hand on his bicep. "Yeah, Randy, join us." Randy looked down to see it was Kelly. She looked the same, but her skin was paler. For a brief moment, he wondered how Sheamus would look as a zombie.

Randy's pupils changed to a blue color, indicating Kelly's charms worked on him. She pulled his head down for a kiss, something he would normally fight. At the same time, he felt Mileena's surprisingly soft hands caressing his chest. He knew this was the working of Quan Chi. If it was this easy for Kelly to put Randy under her mind control, he felt a hint of fear for Mark.

Just then, Kelly and Mileena vanished, leaving Randy standing there alone. He sighed in relief.

"_Randy, remember what I said. If you are not for me, then you are against me,"_ Quan Chi said in his brain.

"Traitor!" Randy turned around to see it was Scorpion standing there. Randy tried to make a plea, but Scorpion wasn't listening. He lunged his spear into Randy's abdomen, "GET OVER HERE!" He yelled as he pulled Randy closer. "You're serving Quan Chi, now?"

Randy was paralyzed and couldn't move any part of his body. He couldn't even speak. All he could do was shake his head no.

"Liar!" Scorpion yelled again. "You're going to pay for treachery."

Scorpion removed his mask to reveal his flaming skeleton. As the first flames came from Scorpion's eyes, Randy closed his eyes, ready to die. At least, he wasn't dying as the traitor Scorpion claimed he was.


	23. Chapter 22

Randy's eyes slowly opened. The first thing he checked were his hands. They weren't pale-skinned like Kelly's or Mileena's, but the same tan like before. From that, he assumed that Scorpion didn't kill him. Next thing he checked was his face. Randy felt all around his face and didn't feel any burn marks on them at all. Was this just a bad dream? Randy looked around to see if he was in the Outworld palace the whole time. He wasn't. He was in the Netherrealm and he wasn't dreaming. Quan Chi really did break down his biological coding, tell him he was from the Netherrealm, and attempted to punish him for not wanting to serve him.

So, where was Scorpion? And why wasn't his skin roasted from Scorpion's hellfire? Had he been saved by his own?

Randy stood up fully to see what was going on. His eyes widened at the sight before him. Evan had managed to hold off Scorpion with his own fire. Unfortunately, he was still weak from Quan Chi's mental attack on him. All he could do for the time being was watch.

"Scorpion, listen!" Evan pleaded over the scorching flames. "It's a misunderstanding. Randy's with us!"

"Silence!" Scorpion shouted. "I saw him…with those two females."

Randy had regained most of his energy and was able to assist Evan against Scorpion. Creating a fireball with his hands, Randy sent it in the direction of Scorpion, hitting him square in the chest. Scorpion fell to the ground and got right back up as if nothing happened.

"Scorpion, listen-

"Evan, I got this," Randy interjected. "Scorpion, Quan Chi tricked you into believing that. I don't serve him."

"Why-

"Scorpion, he is right," an outside voice said. Randy and Evan turned around to see that it was Raiden and the other Chosen Warriors, minus Liu Kang and Johnny Cage. "Despite being a nuisance, Randy is still very much our ally." Scorpion didn't respond to what Raiden said. He just grunted and disappeared.

Randy knelt down towards Evan and whispered, "Did he just call me a nuisance?" Evan smiled and nodded his head in agreement.

"Randy, how did you get down here anyway?" Sonya asked.

"Quan Chi pulled me down here," he began to explain. "Apparently, I descend from here."

"Daemonium Viperidae," Raiden muttered.

"I beg your pardon?" Jax asked.

"Daemonium Viperidae, it's a species of snake native to the Netherrealm. It also can be found within Randy's genetic coding," Raiden answered.

"So, you basically have an idea about the ins and outs of the Netherrealm, considering you evolved from it?" Sonya asked.

"I've never actually been here until last night. I've had dreams though…when I was younger," Randy admitted.

Randy couldn't believe it. This place, that gave him nightmares as a boy was where he actually belonged. This was his home. Randy looked around the familiar place, still not believing it wasn't in his head anymore. He was actually here. Randy found himself staring at the rocks that formed itself into something like a face. The mouth of it was wide open and seemed to be filled with fire.

"Randy, Randy," Evan called out to Randy, but to no avail. Randy was fixed on the stone, almost like it called to him. "Randy, are you alright? Randy!"

That last shout pulled Randy out of his gaze and he turned to face Evan. "What the hell is wrong with you? Why the fuck were you yelling at me?"

"Because the last 10 attempts failed miserably," Evan shot back. "What's so great about that rock? It's a work of natural masterpiece, but we have stuff like that on Earth."

Randy sighed, "Evan, did you ever have nightmares a child?"

"I think we all have. Why?"

"Have your nightmares shaped the person you are today? For better or worse?"

"I guess so, but-

"That 'work of natural masterpiece' as you call it, was at the center of all my nightmares a child-

"Helped shape the asshole you would become?" Evan asked, not fearing the consequences.

"I guess I deserve that," Randy replied with a chuckle. "But I would always see snakes inside of there. I thought that they wanted to attack me. Now, I know they just wanted to…welcome me or something. I was one of them."

"Shouldn't that have been obvious from the fact that you were able to shapeshift into a viper? That you were also a snake or something?"

"Sorry I'm not as quick as you, Evan-

"I hate to interrupt this self-realization thing you're going through right now, but we got some ass to kick and demons to kill," Jax stated bluntly.

"And it starts with getting you two back to Outworld to reunite with your allies," Raiden added. Raiden gathered everyone together and they teleported back to the Outworld palace. They were greeted by Mark, Jade, Kitana, and Mickie. Yet, there was no John.

"I'm glad you're in one piece, boy," Mark said to Randy.

"Thanks. I'm glad I'm in one piece too. Where's John?" Randy asked what Evan, Raiden, and the Chosen Warriors were thinking.

"Earth," Mickie answered, "To fight Terry. Alone. With no assistance. At all."

"I get it Mickie," Mark replied, "You're worried about your little boyfriend. John could handle himself. You think I would've sent him if he couldn't?"

"I don't know what goes on in your brain sometimes."

"Fellow warrior, you must have faith," Nightwolf said to Mickie.

"Yes, you must. I don't believe Mark would intentionally put his own kind in danger," Raiden added.

"Well…." Evan, Mickie, and Randy all said simultaneously.

"Unless I'm causing the pain I wouldn't," Mark interjected, which caused the three wrestlers to nod their head in agreement.

"So, we're just gonna sit around and wait for John to come back?" Kitana asked. Randy saw the look in her eyes. It was that of a woman scorned and she wanted the blood of the Outworld sorcerer responsible for her pain.

"No, we're not. We need to deal with Shang Tsung. Get him out the way. I know that makes you very happy Kitana," Mark replied.

"But how and who?" Randy asked.

"Shang Tsung has recently absorbed the souls of Melina and Liu Kang, which means he's gonna be a problem. He can take on the shape of anything and anyone else. Randy, you're gonna go after him."

"Just me?" Randy asked.

"Shang Tsung is nowhere near as easy to beat as Terry, plus Kitana wants a piece of him for killing Liu Kang. You're gonna be accompanied by Kitana, Jade, and Mickie."

"Can I bring Evan?" Randy asked. "I'd like for there to be a male presence around."

Mark rolled his eyes, "Fine, bring Evan too."

"Do you think he would be in his Flesh Pits lair?" Mickie asked.

"He's in Outworld. I feel his presence here," Raiden interjected. Mark looked over at the group he was sending to kill Shang Tsung and nodded his head. "I'm pretty sure he is expecting someone to go after him. Be careful."

"We will Raiden," Evan said and turned to look at Randy. "Right, Randy?"

"Yeah, we won't do anything stupid."

"Alright, now go and deal with Shang Tsung," Mark ordered. As the five of them exited, Mark called out to Mickie. "Don't worry about John. I wouldn't have him do something he couldn't do." Mickie nodded her head in understanding and exited with the others. Randy was outside waiting for her.

"I actually believe him. Come on, we have a sorcerer to kill."

"Wait, how are we supposed to get there?" Jade asked.

"Well, Mickie and I have already been to the Flesh Pits. Shadow knows the way," Randy answered.

"But I don't see this Shadow," Jade challenged.

"Will you wait?" Mickie shouted. Randy placed her hand on her shoulder and Mickie took a deep breath, which calmed her down. "I need to call for her and she'll appear." Mickie let out a whistle and Shadow came galloping to them. "Happy now, Jade?"

"Ecstatic," Jade replied nonchalantly.

"Okay, let's go to the Flesh Pits," Randy commanded.

Evan and Randy created flaming surfboards for them to ride on while the ladies all hopped on Shadow. They breezed through Outworld, just like they had before when they had found the remains of Melina's burnings. When they arrived at the Flesh Pits, the smell of burnt corpses and death seemed to still linger in the air. Randy half wondered if Shang Tsung had the decency to clean up the bodies so they wouldn't be seen.

"It's just around here. Let's go," Randy ordered the group. Mickie was right behind Randy since she had also recently been here at the Flesh Pits.

"The entrance should just be around the corner," Kitana told him. Randy silently acknowledged her direction as he found the entrance that Kitana spoke of.

"Hey look!" Mickie said, silently pointing in the direction of Shang Tsung. "Looks like he's working on another clone of Kitana.

"Another monstrosity?" Kitana whispered angrily. "How dare him!"

"Princess, you must be calm," Evan suggested.

"Yeah, he's not supposed to hear us," Jade added.

"Oh, but I do," Shang Tsung said, but no one could see where he was. Everyone jumped when Shang Tsung seemed to appear from right under the floor, standing nose to nose with Randy. He tilted his head to turn to Mickie. "You were right, Mickie James. I am working on another clone of Kitana. This one, you may recognize."

Stunned, the group followed the calm Shang Tsung to the table he was at before. Out of everyone, Randy was the calmest, considering he had the mentality of nothing being worse than what he's already seen. Out of curiosity, Randy looked around at all the large test tubes. It was filled with clones of Kitana, or rather Mileena since they were all made with Tarkatan essence.

"As a resident of Outworld," Shang Tsung began, "Tarkatans were one of the few species I could see use to try and make a replication of one of the crown jewels of the fallen Edenia." Kitana growled in anger and disgust. Jade and Mickie held her back from lunging at Shang Tsung like she desperately wanted to. "But then, two miracles happened. Should I tell what they are?"

"Please, enlighten us," Randy replied sarcastically.

Shang Tsung gave a short laugh. "Gladly. First off, I finally defeated my greatest nemesis, Liu Kang. With his powers and mine, I am almost unstoppable. However, it was what he said before his death that really threw me off guard."

"What did he say?" Evan wondered.

"Patience, young Matthew," Shang Tsung answered. "As you may have seen before Randy and Mickie, Melina and Liu Kang were killed together. If I wasn't mistaken, I believe Liu Kang said he was in love with Melina of Earthrealm."

"Liar!" Kitana shouted. "Your mouth spills nothing but lies and deceit!"

"Yeah," Mickie agreed, "Liu Kang really loved Kitana, not Melina."

"They don't look that alike," Randy mumbled under his breath.

"I have no reason to lie, but since you do not believe me, why don't you ask him yourself since you will be joining him in the Netherrealm soon Princess," Shang Tsung stated smugly.

Shang Tsung stepped back a few inches from the group and created a fireball in his hands. The large blob of orange and red heat was blasted towards them. The ladies fell back to the ground while Randy and Evan withstood the damage. Evan gave Randy a tap on his bicep and the two gave a nod of mutual understanding. Evan jumped high into the air with flames at the bottom of his feet. Shang Tsung was focused on the small high flyer and attempting to ground him that he didn't notice Randy in his face. Creating a flaming fist, Randy punched Shang Tsung scare in the jaw and the sorcerer fell back to the ground. The impact of his head almost broke the glass of one of his new Princess Kitana clones. Randy was ready to send Shang Tsung to the Netherrealm where he belonged when the sorcerer started laughing.

"What the hell is so funny Shang Tsung?" Randy demanded to know.

"Are you really going to kill me?" Shang Tsung questioned, the humor clear in his voice.

"That's the plan and I'd like to get on with it."

"Randal wait!" Shang Tsung requested. "Before you kill me, just think about it. You and I have more in common than you and them." Shang Tsung pointed at Kitana, Mickie, Evan, and Jade to prove his point. "And yet you want to save them."

"That's what friends do," Randy replied coldly.

"These friends of yours have done nothing but cause you misery. Jade eliminated you from the Mortal Kombat tournament. Evan disobeyed your orders to not help Sub-Zero. Kitana knocked you unconscious for no reason. And Mickie James, she almost broke the heart of the only person you would actually consider a true friend." There wasn't a single lie in anything Shang Tsung said. All those things had happened. "I know that those are not what friends do to each other."

"How would you know? You don't-

Randy cut Evan off and stared at the sorcerer. He turned around to look at the ladies and everything Shang Tsung just described came rushing back to him all at once. He had no reason to protect all of them. They hated him. At the same time, he gave them all a reason to do so. Randy turned back to Shang Tsung with a smirk on his face. Shang Tsung shared a similar smirk on his face.

"So you've finally seen the light Randal?" Shang Tsung asked.

"Yep, now so will you."

Randy created another fireball in his hands and blasted it directly at his face. Shang Tsung screamed out in pain and the burns.

"Those flames will burn as long as you're alive. You will be trapped in here where you can't steal anymore souls. Shang Tsung, you will die a slow and painful death. Don't even attempt to teleport, you won't like the result."

Randy motioned the others out of the flesh pits and melted the lock into the door. There was no way Shang Tsung can escape without being burned some more. Mickie used the Silver Stallion to null his teleportation ability, leaving him trapped in there.

"Melina, slice him open for me," Mickie said before they all left the Flesh Pits, never to come back.


	24. Chapter 23

**Chapters 23/24: Scorpion**

Hanzo Hasashi, codename Scorpion, treasured moments like these in the Netherrealm. There was nothing but peace and quiet.

Almost instantly, memories came coming back to Scorpion. He remembered being one of the Shirai Ryu's best assassins. He killed anyone that stood in the way of his clan with no remorse. His enemies considered him cold-blooded, but he actually wasn't. He just wanted to provide security for his wife and son. If killing was his method of doing so, then his conscience would have to take a backseat. Yet, despite his gravest efforts, he was still unsuccessful in providing the kind of life his family could appreciate. The reason for that was named Bi-Han. However, he was just a pawn in the scheme of the real murderer of his family and clan.

Quan Chi.

Scorpion felt the fire in his body rage at the thought of the scheming Necromancer. Time and time again, Quan Chi had tricked him into doing his bidding. At the same time, Scorpion is just as strong, if not stronger than Quan Chi. His powers are amplified in the Netherrealm, even more so than Quan Chi's. In fact, Quan Chi was actually weaker in this part of the universe. The nature of the Netherrealm is not the ideal place for wielders of magic. If there were ever a place to murder the scheming bastard, the Netherrealm would be that place.

The only problem is that Quan Chi is just as aware of that as Scorpion. While he did bring souls down here to serve him, he didn't stay very long. He would teleport away to either Outworld or Earthrealm, mostly with the intent of avoiding Scorpion and his wrath. His other motivation was to bring more souls down here, hopefully to make them strong enough to use against Scorpion. So far, his efforts have proven to be in vain. Scorpion proved to be too strong for all of them. Quan Chi had tried to get his minions to gang up on the hell spawned spectre, but that also proved to be a fail.

Scorpion would be lying to himself if he wasn't a little worried that the Necromancer had recruited Randy Orton to serve him. Randy went through everyone in the Mortal Kombat Tournament like it was nothing. It took a trained assassin who was the temporary holder of one of the most powerful swords in all the realms to eliminate him. As strong as Jade was, Scorpion knew she couldn't have done it without that sword. Considering the fact that Randy himself had a DNA coding that would make a native Netherrealmer, his powers wouldn't be weakened. Like Scorpion's, they would be amplified, but more so since he is native to this place. Someone like that serving under Quan Chi would be very dangerous. That was the reason Scorpion was so quick to react when he saw Randy with Barbie and Mileena. He knew those two ladies were aligned with Quan Chi and assumed Randy was as well. He was kind of glad he was proven to be wrong.

Kind of.

The fact of the matter still remains. Quan Chi is roaming freely around all the realms doing Elder Gods know what. He had to be stopped. There is no way that Scorpion can allow the murderer of his clan to breathe another second. Despite being weakened by the nature of the Netherrealm, Quan Chi is still immortal. And Scorpion is currently clueless as to how that is possible. Deciding he wants more company than the inner thoughts in his mind, Scorpion uses his hellfire to teleport into Earthrealm. His goal is looking for Kuai Liang, the younger Sub-Zero.

What the hell?

The place looked absolutely deserted. There was no sign of life anywhere. All the buildings were damaged and practically destroyed. Considering he often came to this part of Earthrealm, it shocked Scorpion to see it in this kind of shape. This part of Earthrealm prided itself in being aesthetically appealing. Now, he didn't know what to think of it. It was then that Scorpion heard a loud boom from up above. He teleported out of the way and unconsciously jumped in the air at the impact of the person's fall.

Scorpion looked up at the sky again to see another figure gracefully land on his feet. He noticed it was John Cena, the person who eliminated both him and Sub-Zero from the Mortal Kombat tournament. John hadn't noticed Scorpion as he was still focused on the figure below him. Scorpion noticed a fire in his eyes, similar to the fire he had when in the presence of Quan Chi. Scorpion watched as John used a sword to stab into the heart of his adversary. A loud groan of pain was heard before there was complete silence. John pulled the sword out and seemingly admired the blood dripping off of it. Scorpion took a few steps closer to see who the person was that John Cena just killed. Though he couldn't see a face, Scorpion was more than capable of seeing the person's form. He had tan skin, more than likely artificial as opposed to natural. His black shirt was stained by the blood coming from his abdomen. His arms seemed rather large, though they were filled with scars. Before Scorpion could take a step closer, he was met with a sword at his throat.

"What do you want Scorpion?" John asked him in a threatening tone.

"Nothing from you," Scorpion replied with just as much venom. The sword John had at his throat was the Sword of Judgment, one of the Blades of Destiny. Scorpion knew it was given to John by the demi-god that leads him.

John stuck the sword further into the skeleton of his throat, almost breaking it. "I don't think you're in a position to be so bold."

Scorpion didn't know the meaning of fear, not even now. He was already dead, so there was nothing to lose. "What are you gonna do? You can't kill what's already dead."

With that statement, the Sword of Judgment was back at John's side. "That still doesn't explain why you're here."

"I told you before that it's none of your concern."

"Let's see," John began as he pointed the sword at Scorpion. "You're a non-native occupant of the Netherrealm." John pointed the sword at the unconscious man's throat, "And Terry over here is on a one-way trip to the Netherrealm. I don't find that to be a mere coincidence."

Just as a response was on the tongue of Scorpion, the man known as "Terry" began to stir. Terry? What had Scorpion heard that name before? He knew John had the answer, but his pride wouldn't allow him to ask a man who accuses him of treachery such a question. Scorpion looked at the semi-conscious body of Terry try to move, which was difficult since John had the sword at his throat. He was prepared to lunge it in at a moment's notice.

"How...da...dare...y...ou!" Terry tried to mutter out in an intimidating fashion. This failed, however, since he had lost too much energy in the battle with John. "Do...NOT...com...pare...me...with a man couldn't even protect his family." The flurry of coughs that followed showed just how drained he was. It also showed that even when death was at his throat, literally, Terry still believed he was the Immortal Hulk Hogan.

Unfortunately, Scorpion didn't care for Hulk Hogan when he was still alive and sure as hell didn't care about him as a vengeful Wraith. Angered by the blatant disrespect of him and his clan, Scorpion ripped out his mask, revealing his flaming skeleton face. John removed the sword from Hogan's throat and moved a safe distance away from Scorpion, knowing something was going to happen. Out of his eyes shot the flames of hell onto the body of Terry Bollea. The intense smell of burning flesh and the sound agonizing screams from Terry were the only sounds that could be heard on the streets. John attempted to cover his nose, the smell bringing back memories of finding Liu Kang and Melina's dead carcasses near the Flesh Pits of Outworld.

"Thank you," John said to the hell-spawned spectre.

"I don't need your thanks. I didn't do this for you."

John scoffed, "Geez, you're worse than Randy. Now if you'll excuse me, I have to get back to Outworld. You coming with?"

"I have business to attend to here."

"Like what? Looking for Quan Chi? He's in Outworld too. Or maybe you're looking for Kuai Liang because he's there too."

"Okay, I will go to Outworld," Scorpion reluctantly conceded. "But I don't need you to take me there!"

"You obviously got here without my help. Pretty sure you can get to Outworld by yourself too. Later." John used the Sword of Judgment to teleport back to Outworld.

Scorpion stared at the lifeless body of Terry once more. He remembered being alive in Earthrealm and seeing this man everywhere. He was a larger than life persona that anyone could look up to. But that was then and this, this is now. Terry was a shell of the man he once was, grasping on to anyone who remembered the days he was considered "The Irresistible Force". It was pathetic. He was pathetic. Scorpion felt the presence of another Netherrealmer nearby. It was that Joker. Not in the mood for dealing with anyone but Quan Chi, Scorpion unleashed the spear from his hand and pierced it through Terry's neck, effectively decapitating him. Scorpion grabbed the head and threw it at Sting, who had appeared behind him.

"Tell Quan Chi he's next," Scorpion before teleporting to Outworld. He was greeted by the presence of Mark, Raiden, John, Sub-Zero, Randy, Mickie, Matt, Kitana, Jade, and others.

"Three down, two to go," Mark announced.

"Yes. Sting and Quan Chi," Raiden added.

"Should be easy enough, right?" Jax wondered aloud. "There's about a dozen of us and two of them."

"Thinking like that will get you killed," Randy chastised. "These aren't just any two."

"He's right. Guess it had to happen sometime," Mickie teased. "All joking aside, who can defeat them? Quan Chi is immortal and Sting is already dead."

"With Sting, re-killing him isn't the goal," Mark replied. "The goal is to send him back to the Netherrealm with no possible way of getting out."

"And Quan Chi is only as immortal as the Amulet of Shinnok," Raiden explained.

"Right, so we just take away his amulet of Shinnok and...BOOM! He's dead. By the way, what is the amulet of Shinnok?" Matt wondered after getting excited.

"The amulet of Shinnok is an amulet that belonged to Shinnok, a fallen Elder God banished to the Netherrealm. Quan Chi began to serve him and somehow got a hold of the amulet for himself. The amulet grants an increase in power and immortality," Raiden answered.

"Well wouldn't that be-

"Randy, don't even think about it," Mickie scolded.

"Also, Quan Chi is weaker in the Netherrealm," Sub-Zero added.

"How is he weaker in a realm he's native to?" Mark wondered.

"The nature of the realm makes magic weaker," Raiden replied, "Only Wraiths and Daemoniums are stronger."

"Daemonium? As in Randy?" John wondered. Raiden nodded his head. "Wow Randy. There's finally a place other than your dreams where you're stronger than Mark." Randy glared at John evilly before a little smirk broke out on his face.

"Can we get a confirmation on John's outlandish accusation?" Mark asked Raiden. John wanted to say something but Mickie covered his mouth before that was possible.

"You yourself are weaker. However, the Blades of Destiny maintain their power no matter the atmosphere." Mark nodded his head in understanding.

"Does anyone actually know how to lure Quan Chi to the Netherrealm? I'm pretty sure he isn't stupid enough to fall for a trap," Jade said.

"Simple Jade, there won't be a trap," Mark answered.

"WHAT?!" Sonya, Jax, Sub-Zero, and Nightwolf shouted.

"I know you're like some sort of demi-god or whatever, but you don't honestly think Quan Chi will just face you in one on one combat in the Netherrealm without something up his sleeve, right?" Sonya wondered.

Since they weren't really saying anything of his interest, Scorpion tuned them all out. But when they spoke of murdering Quan Chi in the Netherrealm, Scorpion felt that was an honor only he deserved to have.

"No one else will spill the blood of Quan Chi but me!"


	25. Chapter 24

"Let's not get crazy now," Jax tried to reason. "What makes you think you can take out Quan Chi on your own?"

"In the Netherrealm he can," Sub-Zero replied.

"Not even. Quan Chi-

"Silence!" Scorpion shouted to Sonya and Jax. "I will get my revenge and nothing or nobody will stop me."

"Scorpion, you are aware of the dangers of facing Quan Chi, right?" Mickie asked with concern etched across her face.

Scorpion's demeanor softened at the look on Mickie's face. It was almost similar to the look his wife would give whenever he would have to complete an assassination. Their words were also similar.

"I am aware, Mickie. You need not worry about me," he replied, avoiding her eyes. He knew if he looked at her again, all the hellfire in his body would be put out in an instant.

"Still, you should have some reinforcement. Just in case any of his Netherrealm buddies try to interfere with your vengeance."

"Like Bi-Han," John pointed out.

Scorpion and Sub-Zero locked eyes in that instant. Both of them had a score to settle with the elder Sub-Zero, now going by the name Noob Saibot. Unlike Scorpion, Bi-Han couldn't just leave the Netherrealm whenever he pleased. This is both good and bad for Scorpion. Good because in the unlikely scenario of Bi-Han being too much to handle, he could escape. Bad because Bi-Han probably knew the ins and outs better than Scorpion, and maybe even Quan Chi. Still, this was the man who allowed himself to be a pawn in the scheme of Quan Chi. For that reason, he must pay.

"Uh oh," John said.

"What's the matter?" Mickie asked.

"That look."

"What look John?" Randy wondered.

"The look Scorpion and Sub-Zero are giving each other. It's the look that almost got me eliminated in the Mortal Kombat tournament."

"The combination of fire and ice is a deadly one indeed. Right Evan?" Randy pointed out.

"Definitely. Especially when you know how to balance the two," Evan replied. "But Sub-Zero, are you okay with fighting your brother?"

It was a question Scorpion was wondering himself. The whole point of Sub-Zero even coming to the tournament was to get revenge on Scorpion for the death of his brother. Even now as he knew the truth, Kuai Liang still considered Bi-Han his brother. After all, he took on the codename of Sub-Zero in his honor.

"Does it ease your anxiety to know that no matter what you do he won't die?" John asked.

"He was still a fellow Lin Kuei clansman," Sub-Zero answered.

"No offense, but he's in the Netherrealm," Randy pointed out. "How good could he have been to land up there?"

"And unlike Scorpion, with no way out," Mark added.

"You must understand the duty of an assassin. There's no time to be remorseful. Remorse is a sign of weakness and no one wants a weak assassin."

Scorpion was just thinking along the same lines earlier in the day. Maybe Kuai Liang did understand him better than Scorpion previously gave him credit for.

"The ends justify the means, boy," Mark explained. "The ends that you seek are filled with good intentions. From one encounter with your brother, I can tell that he didn't share those intentions."

The ends justify the means? That sounded like complete and utter bullshit to Scorpion. He wanted a good life for his family and he still found himself in the Netherrealm. Was that not a good intention? Or maybe being a family man isn't considered noble in the eyes of the Elder Gods.

"Look, are we taking down Quan Chi or what?" Jax asked. Scorpion wanted to roast him for being so bold, but he didn't need any unnecessary enemies.

"Jackson, calm the hell down and be patient. It's not like you're contributing anything except your big mouth," Mickie shot back. The snappy comeback caused John to chuckle a little.

"He's right though," Sonya said. "Time is of the essence and we're wasting it."

"We could always send you and Jax to the Netherrealm. Not like you'll be greatly missed," Randy said.

"Excuse me?"

"You heard me woman."

"Let's not start fighting again. We lost a lot of people already. We don't need to lose anymore," Evan said.

"The boy's right. And so is Sonya. Time is of the essence. Scorpion and Sub-Zero should be making their way to the Netherrealm now," Mark added.

"Without a plan?" Raiden asked.

"The plan is to kill Quan Chi. Is that not good enough for you?" Mark challenged.

"But-

"Raiden, do you have a plan?"

"Not at this moment...but I can think of one."

"We don't have time for this!" Scorpion shouted. "We must go to the Netherrealm now Sub-Zero."

"Wait!" Mickie shouted, causing both men to stop. "How do you get him down there?"

Scorpion was annoyed by another interruption in his goal. Every moment longer Quan Chi was breathing was a moment wasted. Yet, he couldn't deny that Mickie was right. They had no actual method of getting Quan Chi down there.

"That's probably what Raiden was gonna ask, if you all weren't so bull headed," Sonya scolded.

"We have no time for the second-rate police officer. How do we lure Quan Chi?" Randy asked, completely ignoring the angry look he was getting from Sonya.

"This is pointless!" Kuai Liang shouted, surprising everyone. "All you guys are doing is arguing."

"When you come up with a plan, come find us in the Netherrealm. Let's go Sub-Zero."

Kuai Liang nodded his head in agreement and he exited the Outworld Palace behind Scorpion. He gave a Scorpion a nod before Scorpion used his hellfire to teleport them both down to the Netherrealm.

"So this is your home?" Kuai Liang asked.

"Have you never been down here?" Scorpion wondered. Kuai Liang shook his head no. "Then, be on guard Cryomancer. The Netherrealm houses some of the vilest creatures in all the realms."

"I will keep that in mind."

Scorpion and Kuai Liang walked side by side for miles in the hellish realm. Scorpion occasionally glanced over at Kuai Liang and he seemed relaxed. The temperatures did nothing to deter him since he was still breathing cold air from his mask. Despite all this, Scorpion still felt that Kuai Liang was out of his element in a place such as this.

"See any familiar faces?" Scorpion asked.

"Can't say I do."

Just then a blue portal appeared in front of them. Out of it appeared Noob Saibot. "Allow me to be the familiar face, Kuai Liang."

"Bi-Han! Why do you stand in our way, Brother?"

"We may share blood, but we are not brothers."

"Are you working for Quan Chi?" Scorpion asked.

"No, more like repaying a favor. Smoke, come here!" Noob shouted. Smoke appeared before them. He didn't look like the Lin Kuei assassin Scorpion remembered seeing.

"What have you done with Tomas, Bi-Han?"

"Back to that favor. Since I can't leave the Netherrealm, Quan Chi went and got Smoke for me," Noob started. "I used the technology here in the realm to modify Smoke and make him my slave. You would know how technologically advanced this realm is if you weren't constantly leaving it, Scorpion."

"I leave for the purpose of hunting down and killing Quan Chi."

"That's what I'm supposed to do to repay Quan Chi's favor. Eliminate you. Killing the man who has disgraced the Sub-Zero name is a great bonus."

"I'll handle Bi-Han. You deal with Tomas," Kuai Liang ordered. Scorpion looked at him incredulously. "Well, are you just going to look at me?"

Smoke attempted to attack the distracted Scorpion, but he quickly moved out of the way. Using his spear, he pulled Smoke close to him and connected several punches to his mechanical face. Smoke opened his mouth and smoke appeared out of it. The smoke took on a gaseous form and attacked Scorpion from behind. Scorpion hit the floor with a light thud and immediately got back up. Smoke vanished into a cloud of gaseous particles right before Scorpion's eyes. Scorpion removed his mask and spun around in place while the hellfire came out his eyes. His intention was to find Smoke somewhere.

Scorpion felt a hard thud to his back and once again found himself on the receiving end of a beating from Smoke. He definitely underestimated the speed and stealth of the Lin Kuei assassin. His advantage over Noob would come in handy now, but he didn't want to leave Kuai Liang to fight off two people on his own. It was time for Scorpion to get serious. He transferred all the hellfire in his body to his right arm and unleashed the spear from it. The spear pierced right through Smoke's mechanical neck as Scorpion pulled him closer forcibly. He kicked Smoke in the head and Smoke snapped back. Scorpion's flaming eyes were focused on the mechanical carcass lying on the ground. Hellfire came out of his eyes and burned Smoke's body. He picked up his mask, which was on the ground next to Smoke.

His attention turned to the two Sub-Zeros. Kuai Liang was at a severe disadvantage with having to deal with Noob and his shadow, Saibot. When Noob attempted to use Saibot to attack Kuai Liang, Scorpion sent out a fireball hitting the shadow. This turned Noob's attention towards Scorpion and gave Kuai Liang a breather.

"We have unfinished business," Scorpion stated.

"So it seems." Noob got into a fighting pose. "Come, I'll send you to a part of the Netherrealm you could never escape from."

Scorpion threw the first punch at Noob's face and blue blood came out of it. Scorpion attempted to punch him again, but Noob blocked it and kicked Scorpion in the stomach. Saibot slid on the floor, tripping Scorpion into the air and leaving him wide open. Noob capitalized on this by creating a black hole portal and Scorpion fell in.

There was nothing in the black hole. Scorpion felt as if he would be in there for an eternity. Time stood still and Scorpion seemed to not be moving. It was then that the black hole had an opening. Scorpion saw the Netherrealm floor getting closer and closer. He hit the ground skull first and Saibot tackled Scorpion completely to the ground.

"Now you see who the better Wraith is," Noob boasted.

"Not even close!" Scorpion declared with all the energy left in him.

Noob was about to hit an attack, but was frozen solid by his younger brother, who had recovered. Kuai Liang pulled out an icicle sword from his side and slashed the back of his brother, causing Noob to fall to his knees. Scorpion got back up to his feet and kicked Noob in the face. Kuai Liang slashed Noob's neck, decapitating him. Noob's blue blood rained on the face of Scorpion and Kuai Liang. Kuai Liang kicked Noob's body on the ground, placing a foot on top of it. It was his way of declaring he was the undisputed bearer of the codename Sub-Zero.

"Must have been hard for you to do, right?" Scorpion asked. This was the same Kuai Liang who entered the Mortal Kombat Tournament just to avenge his brother's death. This was the same Kuai Liang who stopped at nothing to find his brother's killer. And yet, this was also the same Kuai Liang who now stood triumphantly over his brother's reincarnated corpse next to his original murderer.

"Bi-Han said it better than I could have. We may share blood, but we stopped being brothers long before his death," Kuai Liang turned to face Scorpion. "I still believed he was the Bi-Han I joined the Lin Kuei with."

Scorpion nodded his head in understanding, though he really didn't. To his knowledge, the Shirai Ryu was one big family. There weren't any well-known betrayals or backstabs. Not a single had become cold and heartless like Bi-Han. It was mainly due to the fact that most, if not all, members of the Shirai Ryu had one goal in mind: protecting their loved ones.

"It seems Quan Chi has given you the slip again," Sub-Zero commented.

Scorpion grunted in agreement. "No problem. One day, Quan Chi will have no place to run and no place to hide. And when that day comes, vengeance will be mine!"


	26. Chapter 25

**Chapter 25/26: Raiden**

Raiden looked at what was left of his Chosen Warriors. Sonya Blade, Jackson "Jax" Briggs, Nightwolf, and though not present, Sub-Zero. Liu Kang was killed by the alliance of Shang Tsung and Quan Chi. Smoke was kidnapped by Quan Chi and Elder Gods know what happened to him. No one has seen or heard from Kung Lao since the death of Liu Kang. No one wants to guess either. And it wasn't over yet. As far as Raiden was concerned, until Scorpion and Sub-Zero came back telling otherwise, Quan Chi was still alive and not permanently confined to the Netherrealm for the rest of his life. Then there was the other one, Sting.

At that moment, Raiden turned his gaze towards the Homo Sapiens Supernaturalis. They weren't quite as united as Raiden's group. Dysfunctional would be the best term to describe them. Despite this, they suffered the same amount of losses as the Chosen Warriors. Their leader slew Shao Kahn, something Raiden could never do. Their only remaining female is the champion of Mortal Kombat, a feat only the mightiest warriors in the universe can boast.

Raiden compared his Chosen Warriors to the Supernaturals. Sonya and Jax were special agents, and other than their weapons and fighting ability, there was nothing really special about them. Sonya couldn't take hits the way Mickie could. Jax was nowhere near as strong as John. And even less mild-tempered. Nightwolf had a tremendous connection to the spirit world, but he couldn't channel them the way Randy could. Though possessing great control over ice, Sub-Zero didn't possess the power to balance fire and ice in the manner that Matt could. They had rallied Princess Kitana and General Jade to their side as well. Two powerful fighters indeed.

Then there was their leader. As far as magic was concerned, Raiden had an edge over him. They were about the same size, but Mark was stronger than Raiden when Raiden took tangible form. He was handpicked by the Elder Gods to hold the mythical Blades of Destiny, the most powerful weapons in all the realms. Crafted by the Elder Gods themselves, they had magical capabilities that can withstand the nature of any realm. Plus the ability to pierce through any opponent with ease. How such mighty swords got into the hands of an Earthrealmer was beyond Raiden's understanding.

"Look who's back," Mickie said, upon seeing Scorpion and Sub-Zero. Raiden turned to see the two of them. From what he can tell by their facial expressions, this was not a moment a victory for the good guys.

"He got away!" Scorpion exclaimed. He turned towards the nearest pillar and punched a hole through it.

"Too bad Mickie can't fix inanimate objects," John commented, causing Mickie and Randy to chuckle.

"Scorpion, you must calm down," Raiden tried to reason. "This is why I didn't want you to rush in. There needed to be a way to lure him down there."

"We've been gone for hours. Have you figured out a way?" Scorpion asked.

Raiden put his head down. "No, I have not. Forgive me."

Scorpion gave a bow of respect to Sub-Zero and vanished in hellfire. "He is going into business for himself. He is adamant about wanting Quan Chi dead," Sub-Zero stated.

Mark pinched the bridge of his nose and sighed. "There's nothing we can do about that. What we can do is trap Quan chi in the Netherrealm for Scorpion to finish off."

"How do we do that?" Jax asked.

"That's what Raiden was supposed to figure out," Randy pointed out.

"It's not like any of you have any bright ideas," Sonya shot back.

"And what exactly have you offered other than your big mouth"-Randy looked her over-"and big tits."

Raiden looked at Sonya's face after Randy's last comment. He could tell she was definitely insulted. She pulled her fist and punched Randy square in the jaw. "Maybe that'll teach you to respect a lady."

Randy held his jaw as he glared at Sonya. Cracking his neck to one side, he created fire in his hands. Mark grabbed one of his hands and it vanished. "Mark, what the hell?"

"Boy, now is not the time or place."

"We must focus on the task at hand," Raiden pointed out. "We can't afford to be divided again."

"Again?" Randy expressed with agitation. "I didn't sign up for this. None of us did!"

"The circumstances under which you came are unimportant. Right now-

"Right now, we are no closer to preventing this Armageddon that you constantly speak about. Does anyone even know what that is?"

"The forces of evil have complete control. Their power is so strong that nothing can be done to stop it. Not even interference from the Elder Gods."

Raiden turned to look at everyone in the room. His words seem to be sinking in with the Homo Sapiens Supernaturalis and his own Chosen Warriors. He hoped so. He couldn't do this alone. For the sake of the universe, this couldn't be done alone.

"Can't they interfere now?" Matt asked.

"I have tried many times to contact them. They tell me that nothing can be done because the tournament is over."

"Geez, no wonder people become Atheists. They're no help at all," John commented. Jade hit him the leg with her spear. "Owww! Jade, what was that for?"

"Don't speak such blasphemy of the Elder Gods. They help when it's called for."

"Well Raiden apparently called for it several times. And we still have Quan Chi and Sting around."

"They haven't done serious damage. Yet," Raiden replied.

"So why are worrying now? Can't we wait until something bad actually happens?" Mickie asked.

"We can't just wait for Quan Chi to attack. He has the Amulet of Shinnok in his inventory which makes him immortal. He could go thousands of years without doing anything," Nightwolf answered.

"Well, Kitana and Jade will still be alive," Matt said.

"So will Scorpion and Raiden," Randy added.

"So we should just let the inhabitants of the world thousands of years from now deal with it," John finished.

Raiden shook his head. "It's not that simple. It's very rare for people like you from Earthrealm come along."

"There were 7 of us in a 21 year span. Two of them were born within a month a half of the each other. How rare can we honestly be?" Mark wondered.

"Seven in twenty-one years?" Jax questioned.

"Yes. Five in eighteen if you only count who's here now since Barbie's dead and she was the youngest," Mark clarified. "Either way, if I'm doing my math correctly, that's about once every three years."

"It is too complicated to explain in such a short time frame," Raiden stated.

"Maybe we don't wanna fight anymore," Mickie said speaking up. "Maybe we feel like we've done enough and it's time for you guys to actually contribute something."

"So far, only Kuai Liang has actually done something of merit," John added.

"Maybe this is why Raiden hasn't achieved the status of Elder God yet," Mark commented.

Raiden felt a very rare emotion wash over him. Anger. How dare Mark accuse him of being unworthy of becoming an elder God! He knew he would become an Elder God when he was ready. When the Elder Gods were sure that earth was in safe hands, then he would take a permanent seat in the heavens. At least, that's what he kept telling himself. There was no way incompetence could be a reason. He was the main reason that all these different Earthrealm warriors and supernaturals were brought together. Nevertheless, Raiden couldn't be disrespected by someone who wasn't even a full god. Raiden sent an electric bolt in the direction of Mark. However, Jade blocked it when she spun her spear to split up the bolts.

"Raiden, you don't want to fight me," Mark said through gritted teeth.

"I refuse to be disrespected by you anymore. It is time I show you your place."

"Raiden, you shouldn't be encouraging this," Matt pleaded.

"You want us to end it so badly, so now we're going to," Sonya stated.

"I will not take part in this. I assume you won't either Matt?" Sub-Zero asked. Matt nodded his head in agreement.

"There's no reason for you two to be involved anyway," Randy said. "And trust me, this will be finished."

"Were quaking in our boots," Jax taunted.

Mickie threw the Silver Stallion to the ground. "I don't need this to beat you wimps." Mickie looked up and saw a cloudy sky above her head. "What the-

Mickie was shocked by a lightning bolt before she could finish her statement. She fell to the ground and tried to regain her composure. It was the cue Matt and Sub-Zero needed to exit the palace. Raiden saw Mark whisper something in Jade's ear. In the next instant, Jade and Kitana were also out the palace.

"Try healing your way out of that," Jax taunted. "Good one Nightwolf."

"I was gonna spare you, as a fellow Native American," Mickie said as she stood up on her feet. To the surprise of everyone, she was completely healed, considering the power of the bolt can be matched by Mark or Raiden. "But apparently, you want to get your ass kicked."

"I warn you. Jax, Sonya, and Nightwolf were hand selected by me because they were Earthrealm's greatest warriors."

"Thanks. I'll keep that in mind when 10,000 bolts are coursing through your body," Mark snapped.

Mark stood across from Raiden. Mickie stood across from Sonya. John stood across from Jax and Randy stood across from Nightwolf. Everyone was in a fighting stance, ready to strike.

"Remember, Raiden, this could have been avoided," Mark reminded.

Raiden didn't reply. Instead he unleashed a lightning sphere from his hands aiming for Mark's heart. Mark lifted an arm up to block it and the sphere dissolved in thin air. He captured the leftover sparks in his palm and lowered his hand down to the level of Mickie's lips. He opened his palm and she blew the sparks towards Raiden and Sonya. Raiden say Nightwolf tackle Randy into the wall. John did the say same thing, but to Jax. Sonya attempted to punch Mickie, but Mickie side stepped and gave Sonya a punch of her own.

And the brawl began. Mark looked at Raiden with a smirk on his face. He motioned for Raiden to throw the first punch and he obliged. Raiden flew into the air with the power of electricity and Mark's back fell against the wall. The groan that escaped his lips showed Raiden that he wasn't as strong as he would seem. Despite being a supernatural, he was still human. Therefore, he was still susceptible to humanly pains. It was obvious that his back was a weak point. Raiden turned Mark over on his stomach and placed his hands flat on the curve of Mark's back. Mark let out a louder groan as electric currents coursed through his body.

Mark turned over enough to kick Raiden in the face, sending him to the ground. Raiden noticed the wobbliness of his movements and knew he had weakened him a great deal. Raiden kicked Mark in his legs as he stood back up on his feet. Instead of being pushed back like he thought, Mark fell to his knees. His back and his legs. Raiden had found his weakness. Raiden went over to Mark, but found his face covered by Mark's huge hand. Being lifted slightly in the air, Raiden shook as electricity went through his body. With ease, Mark threw Raiden's body into the wall.

Raiden teleported in front of Mark and kicked him in the gut. Mark keeled over in pain, but that didn't stop Raiden. He attempted to step on the hands that Mark used to clutch his stomach, but he was caught. Mark grabbed one of his feet and lifted him off the ground, removing Raiden's hat from his head. Mark once again grabbed Raiden's right leg and bent it, a loud groan coming deep within the throat of the Thunder God. At the point where it was bent, Mark created a lightning sphere of his own and, just like he promised, 10,000 volts went through Raiden's body. That was enough to kill a normal man, but Raiden was not a normal man.

Raiden sensed his hesitation to attack again. He knew this man could be downright ruthless when necessary, but he refused to go in for the kill. Maybe he didn't want to fight anymore. Raiden himself could admit he was wrong, letting a pity emotion like envy get the better of his rather logical reasoning. Or maybe he was just waiting for Raiden to stand so he could finish him off.

"We can stop this now. I don't wanna fight you," Mark said, proving what Raiden originally thought right.

Raiden slowly got back to his feet. He stumbled a bit, so Mark went over to his side to help him fully stand, though he himself had trouble maintaining a vertical position. Raiden muttered thanks and found his hat on the floor. He picked it up and put it back on his head. "I accept your request for a truce. But how will we get the others to stop?"


	27. Chapter 26

Raiden and Mark looked around at the destruction caused by...what Raiden assumed can be called a civil war. A pond could be created from the spilled blood. The only ones left standing were the leaders of each faction. Even then, it was barely. Princess Kitana and General Jade were deserving of a new palace indeed.

"Do you think she can heal this?" Raiden asked Mark, referring to Mickie.

Mark shrugged his shoulders. "I don't know if she could even heal herself." Mark walked away from Raiden to get a closer look at how much damage the Chosen Warriors and Supernaturals did to each other. "Raiden...I am sorry."

If Raiden had pupils, they would be wide as saucers. He didn't expect an apology to come from Mark. "What for?"

"This destruction. As we speak, Quan Chi and Sting are probably getting stronger and we wasted our time fighting. You-

Raiden lifted his hand up, signaling for him to stop. "Fellow wielder of electricity, I am also at fault. Had I not been in better control of my warriors, this wouldn't have happened."

Mark nodded his head in agreement. "Right. We both weren't being the capable leaders we should have been. And now...we must fix it." Mark turned to face Raiden, "Fellow wielder of electricity."

Raiden and Mark were alarmed by the banging at the palace door. Then Raiden heard feet stomping. Not just any feet. Horse feet. "That must be Shadow Runner coming to aid its master."

Mark went over to the palace door and opened it. Shadow immediately galloped to Mickie and held his head down to her body. Raiden watched as both their bodies glowed and illuminated the whole room. Raiden's mouth slightly fell in awe as Mickie's body was slightly elevated off the ground and fell back down gently. Shadow stomped its feet the same way it did when it wanted to be let into the palace.

"Uggghhh..." Mickie groaned as she slowly got to her feet. "What happened?"

"Look around," Mark answered.

Mickie turned around slowly and muttered a swear as she looked at what was left of what once the bright spot of a rather dark realm. "We caused all of this?"

"Unfortunately," Raiden replied. "But now, we must fix it."

"Which starts with you healing everyone so we can turn our attention back to Quan Chi and Sting," Mark added.

Raiden watched as Mickie seemed to be searching for something. He heard a little "aha!" escape her lips at what she found. Raiden turned to the object that caused a reaction out of her and it was the Silver Stallion. It was hidden under a lot of rubble, but it still maintained its unmistakable silver glow. Mickie picked up the sword and used it to heal everyone.

"My head..."Randy groaned

"My leg..." John muttered.

"What happened?" Nightwolf wondered.

"By the Elder Gods," Sonya whispered in shock, "Apparently a lot."

"Damn, Raiden. I didn't mean for any of this to happen," Jax stated.

"Jackson, we are all at fault here. There is no need to blame just yourself," Raiden reassured.

"Yeah, I'm sorry too. Sometimes my mouth isn't connected to my brain," Randy said.

"Sometimes? Try most of the time," John teased.

"Guys shush!" Mickie commanded, waving her hand to quiet them down. "I think Raiden has something important to say."

Raiden bowed his head in thanks. "I hope everyone released all the animosity they have towards one another. Because now, it is time to focus on Quan Chi."

"And bringing him to the Netherrealm for Scorpion to deal with," Mark added.

"But we can't be certain that when we bring Quan Chi to the Netherrealm that Scorpion will be down there at the same time," Sonya reasoned.

"Not a problem," Mickie assured. "I used the silver Stallion to trap Shang Tsung in the Flesh Pits, where he died a slow, painful death."

"Did he age to death?" Raiden asked. He never knew how Shang Tsung died. He only knew that the scheming sorcerer was dead, which was essentially all he really cared to know.

"No, Randy burned him and I trapped him in there," Mickie clarified.

"Couldn't Quan Chi break through with teleportation?" Jax asked.

"I'd imagine he didn't: either because the power of the sword overpowered his sorcery or he saw Shang Tsung as liability and had no more use for him with Shao Kahn's death."

"I hope it's the first one. It's the only way the plan will work," Mickie said.

"Or we get incredibly lucky and we send Quan Chi to the part of the Netherrealm where Scorpion-

"Wait!" Raiden exclaimed, interrupting John.

"Raiden, what's the matter?" Mark wondered.

"Randy, he is native to the Netherrealm, right?"

"Technically, though I've only been there twice," Randy clarified.

"Can you sense the presence of other Netherrealmers?"

"I don't know. I've never tried to. I guess now would be as good a time as ever."

Raiden watched Randy close his eyes, waiting to sense the presence of a Netherrealmer. This was desperation on the part of Raiden. If the Silver Stallion didn't really possess the ability to trap someone in an area or Randy couldn't sense the presence of inhabitants of the Netherrealm, then Raiden would be out of options. The only thing he could do is make one final plea to the Elder Gods and hope they intervene.

"What made you think of this?" Mark asked Raiden.

"The Shadow Stallion can sense disturbances in Outworld. I was curious to see if Randy could do the same thing, only with the Netherrealm."

"But when we found Melina and Liu Kang dead, we were only in a different part of Outworld," Mickie pointed out, making Raiden rethink this plan. "What if Randy-

"Earthrealm!" Randy exclaimed, opening his eyes.

"What?" Raiden asked.

"I sense a presence in Earthrealm, but I'm not sure if it's Quan Chi, Sting, Scorpion, or someone else."

Mark turned to Raiden. "The ball is in your court now, Raiden. Do we take the chance of finding what we're looking for in Earthrealm, or do we play it safe and stay here?"

Raiden knew the risk of going through with the plan. At the same time, too much has happened to turn back now. "We will go to Earthrealm."

"All of us?" John asked. "Maybe some of us should stay back so the others don't worry."

"John is right. Some of us have to stay. But who?" Mark asked.

"Well Randy definitely has to go," Mickie pointed out.

"Right," Raiden agreed. "Nightwolf can accompany us to Earthrealm."

"John was already there so he stays. So John, Jax, Sonya, and Mickie stay?" Mark looked to Raiden for clarification.

Something about the combination of those four didn't sit well with Raiden. "I think only John and Mickie should stay behind. So there's at least one Blade of Destiny in case something happens."

"Can you two be trusted to defend the castle while were gone?" Mark asked.

"Of course. No need to worry," Mickie assured.

"Don't worry Mark. Micks and I will defend this castle to the dea-

"Don't get crazy, John. We'll be gone for a few hours at most. No need to be a martyr for peace."

"Sorry. Spur of the moment."

"Understandable," Raiden replied. He turned around to face Mark, "We should leave now, while Randy still feels the presence."

Mark nodded in agreement. "Well then, John, Mickie, we're going."

"Don't worry about us. We'll be fine," Mickie assured.

Mark, Nightwolf, Sonya, Jax, and Randy huddled around Raiden. Raiden lifted his hand towards the sky as a lightning surrounded them, preparing to send them to another area.

"Don't forget to clean up when you're finished!" Randy shouted to John and Mickie before they teleported to Earthrealm. Mark hit Randy in the back in the head for the comment.

Raiden teleported the group to Earthrealm. From what Raiden could see, they came to the right place. Matt, Kitana, Sub-Zero, and Jade were all here. They seemed to fighting off fighters from the tournament who had passed on, including Liu Kang, Melina, Mileena, and Barbie.

An unusually powerful fire projectile shot from the hands of Liu Kang and sent Matt backwards, but he managed to stay on his feet. "Great, you guys are here. We knew you would be."

"It seems you are the one they want," Raiden observed. The deceased fighters passed by Kitana, Sub-Zero, and Jade without a care. Their focus seemed to be with Evan. Raiden looked down at Evan's hand and it seemed he was clutching something in his hand. "What is that in your hand?"

Matt turned to face him. "The Amulet of Shinnok. I took it from Quan Chi and he sent his minions after us-well, technically just me."

"Where is Quan Chi?" Randy asked.

"He's behind all of them, directing traffic."

"Anybody good at mass re-annihilation?" Jax asked.

"I could only cut straight through to get to Quan Chi, but one of his minions stopped me when I did that before you guys got here," Matt answered.

"Princess Kitana and I are only adept at close range combat," Jade answered.

"That leaves Mark, Randy, and Raiden. One or all of you guys could pull something together- Randy, what's wrong with your eyes?"

Raiden and the others turned to face Randy. Indeed, his eye sockets glowed a yellow opposite the usual bright and cheery. His pupils contracted inward, having two very narrow ovals for pupils. It was then Raiden realized that Randy was beginning to transition into a viper, or at least a viper-like state. Almost in a similar fashion to Melina-one of Quan Chi's minions-he became very nimble and able to stretch his body. He used this to stretch himself above all the others and created a fire vortex that trapped the hundreds of thousands of Quan Chi's minions inside the vortex.

"Evan, this is your opportunity. Go!" Mark commanded.

Matt created a ramp using his ice powers well above the reach of Quan Chi's minions. As Matt reached the peak of the ramp, he forgot about one member-Melina. She easily broke through the ice and he fell through, becoming trapped inside the vortex. Quan Chi's minions wasted no time in going after him.

"Dammit!" Jax shouted. "How are we supposed to get through that?"

"We have to figure out soon or he's a goner," Sonya remarked.

As Sonya finished her sentence, the ground shook and split in two. A sword rose from the ground and Mark immediately grabbed it.

"The Sword of Hell, created to regulate the people of the Netherrealm," Raiden commented.

"Precisely," Mark replied.

Mark plunged the tip of the sword into the ground and a red energy wave resonated from the sword. Immediately, all of Quan Chi's minions looked up. Raiden could see Matt attempting to stand up through the crowd. It was obvious he was brutally injured.

"Maybe we should've brought Mickie. They did a number on him," Randy commented and Mark agreed.

"He can't get us to Quan Chi in that state. We need another way," Mark said.

"Your sword. Use Melina to bring Quan Chi over to us. She could go over the fire shield, but not out," Raiden reasoned.

"Right," Mark agreed. He looked towards the crowd. "Melina, bring us Quan Chi."

Raiden watched as Melina, seemingly without thinking about it, reached over and grabbed Quan Chi and threw his body over to Raiden and the others. The once mighty sorcerer looked terrified.

"No magic, no minions, no amulet. You're a sitting duck sorcerer," Randy replied.

"You will finally pay for all the damage you have caused!" Kitana shouted.

"Please, have mercy. I can serve you," Quan Chi pleaded.

"Likely story, Quan Chi, but don't worry, we're not gonna kill you," Jade said as she sauntered over to Mark.

"You're going to the Netherrealm where has been waiting Scorpion quite patiently for you," Sub-Zero said, continuing the taunts of the once mighty sorcerer.

"It's over Quan Chi. Now, Randy, if you must."

At Mark's command, Randy channeled his energy and sent a fireball at Quan Chi, sending him to the Netherrealm where Scorpion would be the judge, jury, and executioner.


	28. Chapter 27

**Chapters 27/28: The Undertaker (Mark Calaway)**

Mark and the others were back in the Outworld palace. Before they could strike on Sting, they had to make sure Quan Chi was dead. Randy sat in a meditating position, feeling both Quan Chi and Scorpion in the Netherrealm. From the smirk on Randy's face, Mark could tell Quan Chi was the one suffering. Everyone else seemed to be relaxed knowing there was only one threat left. But Mark knew better. Sting was a nuisance alive. Sting dead with supernatural powers and a whole undead army would be a pain to deal with.

Mark looked up to see Jade bent over looking him in his eyes. "Is everything okay?"

Mark nodded and motioned for Jade to sit on his lap. "Everyone's far too calm."

"Don't you think we deserve this? We've been on edge a lot lately. Everyone just needs a moment to breathe. Including you, you seem very stressed."

"I can't rest until I know that Joker-wannabe is in the depths of hell and stays there."

"Why exactly does he hate you?"

"Jade, the story is too complicated to explain."

Jade swung her legs so they were fully on his lap and wrapped her arms around his neck. She planted a small kiss on his lips. "I have all the time in the world."

Mark sighed and began his story. "I joined the WWE, then known as WWF, in 1990 as The Undertaker. It was the perfect character, since it didn't raise suspicion of me actually being a supernatural. People just thought the supernatural stuff was special effects. Hell, even Vince thought it was special effects."

"When did he find out?" Jade wondered.

"When Raiden contacted him about the tournament. Raiden said he knew that Vince had interacted with the seven of us and therefore had the authority to bring us all together. At least, he had the authority to bring in six of us."

Jade rolled her eyes. "Right, you had to bring in the healer. Must have been fun."

"Not as fun as you, darlin'," he drawled out. "Anyway, in 1995, I had a Casket match, which is my "specialty", against a guy named Yokozuna. I lost by being put in the Casket and the lid closing shut. After that, lightning hit the casket. However, as I told you, it wasn't special effects. But it was supposed to be."

"So, who found it wasn't?"

"A former special effects director for the WWF. He jumped ship to WCW, a rival wrestling company, because it was less work, for more pay."

"Such lack of loyalty," Jade spat.

Mark sighed and chuckled. "That's the nature of the business, Jade. I was in WCW for a year before going to WWE. It's not uncommon."

"It's still disloyal."

"Anyway, the guy told several WCW wrestlers that it wasn't special effects. That really I, and possibly other gimmick wrestlers, had mystic powers. Everyone thought he belonged in the loony bin, except for Sting. Sting believed there was some truth to what he was saying."

"Were there any others?"

"To my knowledge, the next supernatural to join the WWE was the boy. But Sting was weird and always had a fascination with that kind of thing. If you met him before 1996, you wouldn't think that."

"Why not?"

"He was active and hyper. He would play to the crowd, get hype with them, run down to the ring with fluorescent colors, things like that. When he got exposed to my powers, that all changed."

"Wait, how did that happen?"

"WCW and WWE would sometimes hold shows in different cities in the same state. The wrestlers would mingle with each other. Some guys from WWE who left for WCW organized a hangout spot between us WWE stars and them. Two of the guys who organized it were Hulk and Sting. I had no reason to be suspicious of their motives since we were all friends. When we hung out, I had to go to the bathroom. As I washing my hands, Sting approached me, telling me he knew I had lightning powers."

"What did you say?"

"I said he was crazy and denied it. Then, he said he had a witness who told him about the match with Yokozuna. I still denied it. He tried baiting me into using them by insulting me, the WWE, Vince, and Jodi, my first wife." Mark cringed at the last part, knowing Jade would probably get jealous again.

"Have you really been married three times?" Jade asked, surprisingly calm.

"Yes, and none worked out, which is why I'm with you," Mark reassured her. "Then he got desperate. There was some carpeting in the bathroom, so he rubbed a balloon he found in the bathroom and rubbed it against the carpeting."

"What good would that do?"

"Static electricity. He probably thought sparking that against a part of my body would cause my powers to go haywire. He was wrong. Then he said that we both knew I had powers so I might as well just admit it. He said he would go to the government with this story and if you know anything about government, then you would know they would bother me and pester me and question me and probably run tests to prove his ridiculous theory."

"But wait, you're a wrestler, why would someone believe that the electricity is real?"

"Because another wrestler would know what's real and what's not. So, I finally conceded I had magic and asked Sting what he wanted. He said he wanted a small portion of my power. Jade, what you have to understand is that, even a small portion is a lot. It's more than enough to make a man become power hungry, which is what happened to Sting."

"Really?"

"It didn't happen all at once. He disappeared from WCW for a while and when he returned, he became 'The Crow'. WCW eventually fell under and he joined another wrestling company TNA. Again, he was still relatively sane. It was around a year ago, he became crazy and mad with power. He had the nerve to challenge me to a duel for the rest of my power, plus the blades. I killed him and I'm assuming Quan Chi revived him. So, Netherrealm minions, combined with a portion of my magic, and his wacked-out mentality, Sting is a dangerous adversary."

"How do we stop him then?"

"The Blades of Destiny. So far, you only know of four, but there are still two more."

"What are the other two?"

"There's the Seven Stars Sword and then, the most powerful sword in the entire universe, the Divine Spirit Sword."

"Damn, Mark. How did you acquire all those swords anyway?" Randy asked. Kitana, Evan, John and Mickie also moved to where Mark and Jade were to hear an answer.

"Is he dead boy?" Mark asked.

"He had a quite gruesome death. The spirits of Scorpion's entire Shirai Ryu tribe attacked Quan Chi before Scorpion finally scorched him alive," Randy replied.

"That's good news," Mark said with a slight smile. "To answer your question, I found all of them except the Divine Spirit Sword, which my parents said they found exactly a year before I was born."

"Do they know you are supernatural?" Mickie asked.

"They knew before I knew and were quite accepting. It's why my powers are so developed."

"What about the other five?" Randy wondered. "I'd imagine you didn't leave Texas until you were in the WWE."

"I did actually. When wrestling in Japan, I obtained the Seven Stars Sword from a terminally ill Japanese man who was giving away his things. The Sword of Hell and the Sword of Judgment were side by side a few miles away from my old high school in Houston. I also found the Sword of Heaven behind, of course, a church in Houston. It was just there on the ground and no seemed to notice."

"Can the Blades be seen by anyone that isn't supernatural?" Mickie asked.

"They can, but they seem like regular swords to ordinary people. Maybe even a collector's item. It was in a store by an equestrian range I bought the Silver Stallion."

"Is it possible the Elder Gods purposely put the swords in places where you could easily get them?" Evan asked.

Mark sat quietly for a moment. "I never thought about it like that. Now that I think about it, it is possible. I don't know why I was chosen over the four of you."

"Maybe you were like the chosen one or something," Kitana suggested.

"The chosen one? Seems like a little farfetched, don't ya think Princess?" Randy teased.

"No, there's no way one person could wield all the swords crafted by the Elder Gods themselves without being specifically chosen."

Mark thought about it for a moment. Can these 'Elder Gods' really foresee future events? "Then again, I can't wield the Silver Stallion. Only Mickie could."

"It was still placed in your care until Shadow found her rightful owner," Mickie shot back.

Raiden, Sonya, and Jax joined the group formed around Mark and Jade. "I assume Quan Chi is dead," Jax wondered. Mark nodded his head. "Alright. Only one more left."

"Don't think Sting is some ordinary person," John scolded.

"He has an army," Mickie reminded them.

"That can be controlled by the Sword of Hell. Mark showed that on Earth," Evan stated.

"Everything is in our favor. How could we lose?" Jax wondered.

"You're too confident. Sting has one thing you don't have," Jade said.

"And what's that?"

"Brains, obviously. He's a manipulative person. This false sense of security is exactly what he wants," Mark said.

"So only the Blades of Destiny can defeat him for good?" Sonya clarified.

"Basically," Mark answered.

"Alright," Raiden said, "We will come together again in an hour to discuss a plan to eliminate Sting for good."

"Sounds good to me. What about the rest of you?" Mark asked. They all muttered their agreements and dispersed.

"Wanna go for a walk?" Jade asked him.

"Are you sure that's safest thing to do at the moment?"

"The walk is only within in the castle. We won't be too far."

Jade and got Mark's lap and let him stand up. "Let's go."

"Wait, where are you going?" Evan asked.

"Jade and I are going on a walk," Mark answered.

"A walk...riigghhhtt," Randy said with teasing suspicion.

Mark rolled his eyes and turned to Jade. "Let's go."

For the first couple of minutes, the walk was silent, with Mark and Jade preoccupied by their own thoughts. Mark believed this 15+ year feud would finally meet its end. He wondered if the only thing he should do is banish Sting to the Netherrealm forever. Maybe he should cut Sting's tongue off. Maybe he'll decapitate him like he did Shao Kahn. Maybe he'll tie him to wall and pull his limbs in different directions until they were no longer attached to his body. The possibilities were endless.

Jade stopped in the throne room. "Jade, is something wrong?"

"This was the place."

"When?"

"In this room, Shao Kahn opened a portal to Edenia and invaded it. All of Edenia was consumed by Outworld."

"Jade..."

"He was too powerful for any of us in the army. Too powerful for Princess Kitana and Queen Sindel and King Jerrod."

"King?"

"Yes, Shao Kahn used the spirit of King Jerrod as well as many others to create a new fighter. Ermac I believe his name was."

Mark recalled hearing that name. "Jade..."

"Sting is more powerful than Shao Kahn. I've never had any direct interactions with him, but I can tell from your worry he'll be difficult to handle. I can't let it happen again. I won't let it happen again."

Mark turned Jade around to face him and titled her head up to meet his eyes. Two shades of green locked for what seemed like an eternity. "Jade, it won't happen. I promise you."

Jade bowed her head in respect. "Thank you, Mark, I really do love you."

Mark kissed her on the lips. "I love you too Jade. Even though my oldest ancestor is nowhere near as old as you are."

Jade slapped him playfully on his arm. They turned around to walk back to the palace. "What can I say? We Edenians live for a long time. We descend from gods, kinda like you."

Mark paused in his tracks. "Wait, what?"


	29. Chapter 28

"You descend from gods, don't you know that?" Jade asked.

"This is news to me. Come on, I need to talk to Raiden." Mark ushered Jade back towards the palace den where everyone was situated. "Raiden, we need to talk."

"About what?" Raiden wondered.

"Jade told me I descend from gods. Care to elaborate?"

Raiden sighed. "There was unearthly presence following the five of you, plus Barbie and Melina, during the nine month pregnancy process. Now, that in itself is quite normal, but if it happens repeatedly, you will gain powers from that realm."

"Wait, how can they do that?" Randy asked.

"Earthrealm has integrated people from other realms into their own since its creation billions of years ago. Interrealm migration used to be normal, but it stopped millions of years ago. Earthrealm is accessible to all people of all realms, the only place on the universe capable of such a feat. Whenever a realm senses the presence of their descendant, they immediately go to where that descendant is located. If once they feel the descendant has something special to offer, they are given powers from that realm. If not, the descendants live their lives as regular humans. This is the first time since the evolution of Homo Sapiens 10,000 years ago this has happened."

"And there were seven of us. Isn't that something?" Evan marveled.

"So where do we descend from?" John wondered. "All we know is that Randy comes from the Netherrealm."

"And according to Jade, I descend from Gods. Does that mean I come from Edenia?" Mark asked.

"No, only Mickie and John come from Edenia. What Jade meant was, you descend directly from Heaven, as do I," Raiden replied.

"Wait, so Mark really is a God? Like half?" Evan questioned. Raiden nodded. "Wow, no wonder you're so strong. Where am I from, Raiden?"

"Here in Outworld. You are a part Cryomancer, and this is the area from which they descend. Melina and Barbie also descend from here."

"How does someone like Evan, who is probably one of the nicest people I know, come from a place like this?" John asked.

"A realm doesn't make a person's personality. Liu Kang's trainer Bo Rai Cho was a great man, but he was also from here."

"Since me and Mickie come from Edenia-

"Fool, you have no relation to me or the Princess," Jade said, reading his mind, causing Mark to chuckle.

"But—

"All of this origin enlightening has been great and we definitely have more to figure out more about our lineage, but now is not the time to do so," Mark said.

Raiden nodded his head. "He is correct. We have to worry about Sting."

"Mark, what exactly can the six Blades of Destiny do?" Kitana asked.

Mark sighed and went into the bedroom he had been sharing with Jade for the past few months. He emerged from the room electrokinetically holding five wooden, rectangular cases that held five of the blades. The Silver Stallion was held firmly in the grasp of Mickie. Mark sat down in the chair he was sitting in before and opened the first case, revealing the Sword of Judgment.

"The Sword of Judgment, as I have told Jade before, was designed by the Elder Gods to pierce through any opponent with ease. However, some opponents—some of which are in this room—break the 'any' rule. Therefore, it is not the strongest. However, it is the Blade that works best with my powers, as you can see the electricity radiating off of it. It also can teleport someone to any realm they desire. It is the only Blade so far I have left someone other than me wield"—Mickie coughed loudly—"and the Silver Stallion, which is no longer in my possession."

Mark put the Sword of Judgment back in the case it came from and took another sword from a different case. "The Sword of Heaven, which Jade and Mickie saw me use to kill Shao Kahn with, is designed solely for death by decapitation. As I learned from Raiden, decapitation was considered a 'heavenly' death to the Elder Gods, so this sword was specifically for that purpose. If I try to use it on any other body part besides the neck, it was fail and probably shatter, but I'm not 100 percent sure about the last claim."

Mark placed the sword back in its case and put a different sword in his lap. "The Sword of Hell, or Sword of the Netherrealm, is a sword designed to regulate Netherrealm activity, with also the capability of destroying any and every person who currently resides or is native to the Netherrealm"—Mark darted his eyes to Randy in that instant—"I mean you, boy."

Mark repeated the process he had one twice before with a different sword. "This is the Seven Stars Sword. For close range fighters like Mickie, John, Jade, and Kitana, this would be a great sword. It's called the seven stars because it attacks seven points on the body: legs, shoulders, neck, abdomen, feet, arms, and the….ahem….genitalia. All it takes is a hit to one of the seven stars, and the other six also take damage. Another one of my favorites."

Mark put the Seven Stars Sword back in the case and looked up to face everyone. "Because I'm pretty sure even Mickie is curious, I'll say the power of the Silver Stallion. It's a sword of dazzling might. I say dazzling because it has the ability to put someone in a trance because the beauty of the sword is very captivating. Probably why I was so reluctant to give it up. Apparently, another power of the sword is entrapment, since it trapped Shang Tsung in the halls of his Flesh Pits to die slow and painfully. It's the perfect sword to have when attacking when the sky is dark because the silver glow shows even more."

Mickie lifted the Silver Stallion to look at it before turning back to face Mark. "It is the best looking of all the swords you showed us. Don't forget, it comes with Shadow Stallion, the fastest horse in all the realms."

"Of course, how could I forget about Mickie's secret to winning us money in the horse races when we get back to Earthrealm?" Mark teased. Mark then went into the final wooden case to show one last Blade of Destiny. "Anyway, the final sword I wanted to show you all was for a long time, the sole Blade of Destiny: The Divine Spirit Sword. Despite the immense power of the other six, it is still the most powerful of them all. Not only can it negate the power of the other swords, but a person can possess the other five blades, and another person can have just this one sword and be too powerful. However, because it is so powerful, it can't be held by just anybody. When my father gave this to me, he didn't expect the sword to glow and radiate a magical aura like it does now. Only in my possession is this possible. Even though Sting has a portion of my power, he can't cause the Divine Spirit Sword to react this way."

"Does Sting know that?" Mickie asked.

"No." Mark nodded his head in understanding. "I see what you mean. I know exactly what you want to do."

"What?" Jade wondered. "I don't want to, how do you Earthrealmers say, be left in the dark."

"I'll tell you later, darlin'," Mark reassured.

* * *

><p>The area was extremely quiet for this time of night. Mark stood alone in the streets. He told Jade and the others to stay in the palace while he waited for Sting to show up. This was someone Mark had to deal with on his own, one on one. He didn't care about the consequences of his actions. The ends justify the means.<p>

"You rang, old friend?" Sting said to Mark when he appeared opposite him. Mark noticed that Sting was holding his trademark baseball bat. Mark also noticed the bat had electric sparks coming off of it, meaning Sting learned how to transfer his power into weapons. "Interrealm teleportation takes a lot out of me, you mind if I rest up a bit?"

"I don't have time for your games. We end this now!" Mark stated. Mark pointed the Divine Spirit Sword at Sting, "My Blade against your bat. Since this is the most powerful sword of all the Blades of Destiny, I'll let you get the first hit."

"Fine by me. Just know, when this is all said and done, that blade, along with the other five will be mine."

"We'll just see about that, Steve. Come on, take the first hit so I can end you already," Mark baited.

"With pleasure, old friend."

Sting charged at Mark with the bat in his hand. He used the end of the bat to shove it in Mark's abdomen. Mark held his stomach and keeled over in pain from the hit. When Sting went to him with the bat again, Mark grabbed and swung Sting around along with the bat and Sting was thrown face first into the ground. As he was getting up, Mark baited him by waving the Divine Spirit Sword in his face. Sting got angry and charged at Mark again with his bat, but Mark sidestepped him. He also stuck his foot out and tripped Sting, resulting in him falling to the ground once again.

"I haven't used an ounce of magic and I'm beating you," Mark taunted. "I should just finish you off right now."

"Don't be so sure. I have a few tricks up my sleeves."

Sting used the bat to trip Mark off his balance. "You really think I'm going to let you beat me so easily. This goes deeper than me wanting your powers, oh no. I'm better than you, always have been, always will be. But I've never stepped foot in the WWE so I'm considered second rate to you. I'm not second rate to anyone! And when I defeat the most powerful supernatural of them all, I will prove that."

Mark looked at Sting like he grew a second head. He couldn't believe he was actually hearing the words come out of his mouth. "Steve, that's not my fault," Mark tried to explain. "You were given several opportunities to come to the WWE. To immortalize your name alongside mine, and you refused all of them."

"I don't wanna be alongside you, Deadman. I wanna be above you. And it'll start with me defeating you now. You don't honestly believe I came alone against someone as powerful as you?" Mark got up on his feet and on both sides of him a dead Shao Kahn and Quan Chi. "You see, Scorpion actually did me a real favor. By killing Quan Chi, his magic was no longer weakened by the Netherrealm, but instead amplified by being part of my army. Quan Chi, Shao Kahn, finish him!"

Mark backed up and put his fists up preparing for a fight. Shao Kahn charged at him first by throwing his green energy spear, but Mark caught and threw it right back at him. Due to the distraction from Shao Kahn, Mark didn't see Quan Chi's green flaming skull coming at him. It caused Mark to fall back a few inches, but he wasn't off his feet yet.

"Hey Marky Mark, think fast," Sting said as threw a skull in Mark's direction, which Mark caught with ease. Mark stared directly at the skull and then at Sting, but the effects of the skull had already begun to take their effect. Sting forced Mark to crack the skull against his own skull and forced Mark to zap himself with an electric spark.

"Mwahahaha! The Divine Spirit Sword, the most powerful Blade of Destiny of all is finally mine!" Sting shouted elated as he walked over to Mark to pick up his most prized possession. "Any last words Calaway?"

"You're not gonna kill me, Steve. You don't have the balls to do so," Mark spat. Mark sat up a bit to spit a blood in the direction of Sting.

"I hope you keep that gumption when you become my Netherrealm minion." Sting prepared to attack Mark with the sword, but seemed to stop as he approached Mark's heart. "What the hell?" He tried again to stab the sword into Mark's heart but again to no avail. "What the hell is going on?"

Almost out of nowhere, Jade's razorang came towards Quan Chi and Shao Kahn, taking off both their heads. "Surprise, Sting," she said as she walked up to him.

"You didn't honestly believe I would face a psychopath like you alone, right?" Mark taunted, standing fully on his feet. "You can't beat the master of the mind games."

"What the hell is going on?!" Sting questioned.

"The Divine Spirit Sword works for me and me only. You have no power over it. Now, if you don't mind, I would like to rip you apart limb from limb." Jade handed Mark the Seven Stars Sword and Mark sliced Sting's abdomen open. Sting looked at his abdomen in shock and Mark watched as the other six body parts were also sliced. This caused Sting to fall back to his knees. Mark took a step back and took the Divine Spirit Sword from Sting. "And now, I send your ass back to the Netherrealm permanently."

Mark stabbed Sting directly in his heart and he fell backward. The electricity flowing through his body went into the air and back into Mark's body. "Jade, it feels good to finally have all my power back." He looked towards the sky and sent lightning bolts through the sky with his hands.


	30. Epilogue

**Six Months Later…**

Following the defeat of Sting, everything slowly returned to normal, knowing that Armageddon had been prevented. With some help from the Divine Spirit Sword, Edenia was finally able to split from Outworld after thousands of years. Many Edenians didn't return as they didn't see the realm as their home anymore. Those that did return, however, would live under the rule of Princess Kitana, Queen Sindel, and be protected by General Jade. Mark and Jade continued their interrealm relationship. Despite their schedules almost never allowing them to do so, John and Mickie remained a couple. Randy considered a relationship with Kitana, but ultimately decided against it. Raiden had finally achieved the status of Elder God, which caused an increase in power of Mark, as Mark was now trusted with protecting Earth from anymore potential threats from other realms.

Deciding he didn't need it, Mark gave Scorpion the Sword of Hell, since he resided in the area. Since the Netherrealm was still the realm that posed the biggest threat, Mark trusted Scorpion to make sure no inhabitant would cause another interrealm conflict. Along with his alliance with Sub-Zero, Scorpion formed an alliance with Evan and Randy. With those four working together, Mark knew Outworld and the Netherrealm wouldn't be a threat for a long time to come.

"So this is Edenia? It's beautiful," Mark said to Jade as he looked around at the beautiful area. It looked like something out of the Bible with its beauty. There were trees as tall as the eye can see and rows of flowers of all kinds everywhere. What really highlighted the beauty of Edenia was the royal castle. It purposely stood above everything in Edenia. It looked like the Gothic castles on Earth. There were three buildings that made up the castle. The tallest one was a cylinder shape with an open roof accented with jagged square walls. The two smaller buildings had a similar roof design, except with a square shape.

"That's why this time around, I will protect it all cost," Jade replied.

"Jade, look at me." Jade turned to face Mark and immediately felt his lips on hers. She wrapped her arms around his neck and enjoyed the feel of his tongue in her mouth. Regrettably, Mark pulled their lips apart. "You're not alone. You have me, John, the boy, Evan, and even Mickie. We all can come whenever you're in need."

Jade smiled as Mark palmed her cheek with his hand. She placed her hand over his and nuzzled her head into his touch. "Look what you've done to me Mark. A few months ago, I would have fought a person that accused me of needing help. Now, I welcome it. Even from Mickie."

Just then, a horse neighed from behind them. It was Mickie and John on top of Shadow. "I heard that Jade. Lucky for you, I don't hate you anymore."

"Likewise Mickie James. Where are Matt and Randy?" Jade wondered.

"Probably getting high off Edenian plants," John teased, causing Mickie to nudge him in the shoulder.

"Could you get them? We have to go to the royal palace soon."

"Yeah, and I have to place my bets."

"Bets for what?" Mark asked.

"The horse race. Mickie and Shadow are entering the tournament. Gotta root for my number one girl," John said and he placed a kiss on Mickie's cheek.

"When's the race?" Mark asked.

"Few hours," Mickie replied.

"That's more than enough time. Get the other two and let's go."

* * *

><p>Mark and Jade stood in the throne room with their heads bowed to Princess Kitana and Queen Sindel. A few moments later, John and Mickie came in with Evan and Randy.<p>

"Glad you all are here," Sindel stated as she stood up off her throne chair. "On behalf of Edenia and the Elder Gods, I thank you for your participation in Mortal Kombat, as well as preventing Armageddon. I hereby declare you all honorary members of the Edenian army, free to come and go as you please."

Mark, John, Randy, Mickie, and Evan bowed their heads as Jade tapped each of them on top of their heads with her staff. Jade has gained some powerful warriors into her army. Edenia would not be taken over again.


End file.
